Publications

Publications

The MIT Black History Project is committed to collecting, developing, curating, and preserving content on the Black experience at MIT dating back to 1865. We are also currently working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the challenges we all face within the greater scope of the Institute’s mission and accomplishments.

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Song of the Water Saints
Book
2000s

Song of the Water Saints: A Novel, 2002

Alum
A debut novel by MIT writing professor Nelly Rosario tracing three generations of Dominican women across continents, blending poetic prose with the weight of memory and migration.
Other Researchers
Tackling Jim Crow
Book
2000s

Tackling Jim Crow: Racial Segregation in Professional Football, 2003

No items found.
A book documenting the history of racial segregation in professional football, with a focus on MIT alumnus William Arthur Johnson who broke the color barrier in the NFL.
Other Researchers
What Makes Racial Diversity Work in Higher Education
Article
2000s

The MIT Experience: Personal Perspectives on Race in a Predominantly White University, 2004

Administrator
An article by MIT's Clarence G. Williams reflecting on his experiences of race at the Institute, published as a chapter in a volume on diversity in higher education.
MIT Black History Project
Article
2000s

William Barton Rogers and the Southern Sieve, 2005

Administrator
An article examining the complicated relationship between MIT founder William Barton Rogers, his scientific career in the antebellum South, and the institution of slavery.
Other Researchers
The Serious Search for Black Faculty at MIT page
Article
1990s

The Serious Search for Black Faculty at MIT, 1995

Faculty
An article documenting MIT's 1995 efforts to recruit Black faculty, naming the eight tenured Black professors then at the Institute and examining the barriers to diversification.
Other Researchers
The Gilded Years
Book
2010s

The Gilded Years, 2016

Alum
A novel by Karin Tanabe based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, who passed as white at Vassar in 1897, with a fictional subplot involving her brother, a connection to MIT.
Other Researchers
HBCUs Facing the Future, 2012
Paper
2010s

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Facing the Future, 2012

Faculty
A 2012 study examining the challenges facing Historically Black Colleges and Universities and proposing strategies for their long-term sustainability and relevance.
Other Researchers
A Widening Sphere
Book
2010s

A Widening Sphere: Evolving Cultures at MIT, 2011

Administrator
A 2011 MIT Press book tracing the evolution of MIT's culture from its 1861 founding through more than a century of growth, diversity, and institutional transformation.
Other Researchers
Countless Connecting Threads, 2013
Book
2010s

Countless Connecting Threads, 2013

Administrator
A 2013 illustrated history of MIT celebrating the interconnected contributions of its faculty, students, and alumni across 150 years of science, engineering, and society.
Other Researchers
Type
Timeline
Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT, 2005
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Book
A 2005 MIT Press history of the Institute's founding, tracing the origins of MIT's motto 'Mens et Manus' and the vision behind America's first major research university.
No items found.
The Racial Climate on the MIT Campus, 1986
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1980s
Other Researchers
1980s
Report
A report examining the racial climate at MIT, documenting the experiences of Black students, faculty, and staff and recommending concrete steps to improve the campus environment.
Administrator
A Study of the Number of Black Graduate Student Applications for Fall, 1970
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Report
A 1970 statistical study of Black graduate school applicants across 25 major universities, examining enrollment trends and barriers at the height of the civil rights era.
No items found.
Professor Joseph Applegate, 1997
Article
2017
MIT Black History Project
1990s
MIT Black History Project
1990s
Article
A Tech Talk article profiling Joseph Applegate, MIT's first Black faculty member and a pioneering linguist, published for African-American Heritage Month in 1997.
Administrator
A Break in the Pipeline, 1999
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
A 1999 Technology Review article examining the underrepresentation of Black faculty and students in the academic pipeline at MIT and peer institutions.
Administrator
1st National Conference on Issues Facing Black Administrators at Predominantly White Colleges and Universities, 1982
Proceedings
2017
MIT Black History Project
1980s
MIT Black History Project
1980s
Proceedings
Proceedings from the 1982 national conference examining the challenges faced by Black administrators working in predominantly white colleges and universities.
Administrator
The Rhetoric of Sex, the Discourse of Desire, 1992
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
An article by science fiction author Samuel Delany, originally delivered as a 1992 MIT lecture, exploring the rhetoric of sex and the politics of desire in literary and cultural discourse.
Visiting
Ebony and Ivy, 2013
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A history of how elite American universities including Harvard and MIT were shaped by and helped perpetuate the ideology and economy of slavery, by scholar Craig Steven Wilder.
Faculty
NACA Report: Dynamics of Mechanical Feedback-Type Hydraulic Servomotors Under Inertia Loads, 1953
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1950s
Other Researchers
1950s
Report
A NACA technical report by MIT-trained aeronautical engineer Yenwith Whitney analyzing the dynamics of hydraulic servomotors used in aircraft control systems.
Alum
Report on Issues, Implications and Recommendations Related to Retention of Undergraduate Minority Students: Science and Engineering Fields, 1987
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1980s
Other Researchers
1980s
Report
A report prepared for MIT by Clarence G. Williams examining retention barriers for Black and minority undergraduates in science and engineering fields.
Administrator
Discrimination Conference Issue of The Tech, 1955
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1950s
Other Researchers
1950s
Article
The March 1955 issue of MIT's student newspaper covering the National Conference on Selectivity and Discrimination in American Universities, held on campus.
Student
Tuskegee (Weather) Airmen: Black Meteorologists in World War II, 2006
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
An article documenting the role of MIT-trained Black meteorologists, including Tuskegee Airmen, in advancing WWII weather forecasting and American military aviation.
No items found.
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