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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NEJHE Connection cover
Article
1980s

MIT's Minority Success Record, 1988

Administrator
A 1988 report examining MIT's record of minority student success, including enrollment, graduation, and outcomes data for Black and other underrepresented students.
MIT Black History Project
RRT
Article
1990s

From 'Tech' to Tuskegee, 1998

Administrator
A 1998 article tracing the deep historical ties between MIT and Tuskegee Institute, from Robert Robinson Taylor's graduation in 1892 through decades of shared mission.
MIT Black History Project
MIT Black History collage
Article
2020s

Illuminating the successes and struggles of MIT Black history, 2023

Multiple
A 2023 MIT News profile of the MIT Black History Project, documenting its mission to research and preserve over 150 years of Black life and achievement at the Institute.
MIT Black History Project
Illustration by ANDREA DAQUINO
Article
2020s

The long path to inclusivity, 2020

No items found.
A Technology Review article reflecting on MIT's decade-long progress following the 2010 Hammond report on faculty race and diversity, assessing what changed and what didn't.
Other Researchers
Report of The Initiative for Faculty Race and Diversity
Report
2010s

Report of The Initiative for Faculty Race and Diversity, 2010

Faculty
A report from MIT's Initiative for Faculty Race and Diversity, examining the state of Black and minority faculty representation and making recommendations for improvement.
Other Researchers
Archival Elements cover (2021)
Article
2020s

Archival Elements (2021)

No items found.
The 2021 issue of the Society of American Archivists newsletter featuring MIT Black History Project coverage on archival methods and culturally significant collections.
Other Researchers
Technology Review, Nov 1964 COVER
Article
1960s

The Negro at the College Door, 1964

Multiple
An article documenting the 1964 MIT Conference on Negro College Summer Institutes and its efforts to improve college preparation for Black students from underserved high schools.
Other Researchers
Wonder Women of Science
Book
2020s

Wonder Women of Science: How 12 Geniuses Are Rocking Science, Technology, and the World (2021)

Alum
A children's book by MIT alumna Tiera Fletcher '17 and co-authors profiling 12 women scientists and engineers rocking STEM, with Fletcher herself as one of the featured subjects.
Other Researchers
Nature editors
Article
2020s

Science must overcome its racist legacy: Nature’s guest editors speak, 2022

Multiple
An article from Nature featuring MIT-affiliated scholars calling on the scientific community to reckon with its racist history and actively work toward decolonizing research.
Other Researchers
Type
Timeline
Including the Excluded: Concepts for Successful Integration of the US Academy, 2014
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
A lecture by MIT professor James Sherley on concepts for integrating underrepresented groups into the US scientific enterprise, delivered at a Johns Hopkins retreat.
Faculty
Civil Rights, the War on Poverty, and Black-White Convergence in Infant Mortality in the Rural South and Mississippi, 2006
Paper
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Paper
A 2006 public health study examining how civil rights legislation and the War on Poverty drove convergence in Black and white infant mortality rates in the rural South.
Faculty
Black Capitalism and Black Supermarkets, 1969
Paper
2017
Other Researchers
1960s
Other Researchers
1960s
Paper
A 1969 article by MIT economist Gordon Bloom examining the economics and social dimensions of Black-owned businesses and supermarkets in urban America.
Faculty
MIT's Black Hole: Dr. James L. Sherley is just the latest professor to protest the lack of Black tenured faculty at MIT, 2007
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
An article examining the broader pattern of Black faculty departures from MIT, placing the James Sherley case in the context of a longer institutional history.
No items found.
An Avoidable Black Eye for MIT: Professor James Sherley Is Dismissed and His Laboratory Padlocked, 2007
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
An analysis of the 2007 termination of MIT stem-cell researcher James L. Sherley, whose dismissal and hunger strike sparked a campus-wide debate on race and tenure.
No items found.
It's No Picnic for Black Faculty at MIT, 2007
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
A 2007 study documenting that Black faculty represent only about 3 percent of MIT's total faculty, analyzing the barriers to recruitment and retention.
No items found.
MIT's Mea Culpa: Now, What About Black Faculty?, 1999
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
A 1999 analysis of MIT's landmark report on discrimination against women faculty, and whether its findings would prompt similar action for Black faculty.
No items found.
The Scientific Development of the Negro, 1911
Paper
2017
Other Researchers
1910s
Other Researchers
1910s
Paper
A paper delivered by Robert Robinson Taylor '92 at MIT's 50th anniversary celebration in 1911, arguing for the scientific education of Black Americans as a path to progress.
Alum
The Civil Engineer, 1946
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1940s
Other Researchers
1940s
Article
An article profiling Lewis King Downing '24, the first Black graduate of MIT's Sloan School, who went on to a distinguished career as a civil engineer and college president.
Alum
The Desegregation of an Elite Economics Department’s PhD Program: Black Americans at MIT, 2014
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
An article tracing the history of Black PhD students in MIT's economics department from the 1970s onward, examining barriers to entry and outcomes over four decades.
Alum
The African-American Linguist Who Broke the Faculty Barrier at MIT, 1997
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
An article documenting how Joseph Applegate, MIT's first Black faculty member, broke the faculty color barrier as a linguist in 1955 and paved the way for those who followed.
No items found.
The battle for ‘Trayvon Martin’: Mapping a media controversy online and off-line, 2014
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
An academic article by MIT professor Sasha Costanza-Chock analyzing how the Trayvon Martin case spread through social media and shaped public discourse on race and violence.
Faculty
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