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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Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique, 2012
Book
2010s

Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique, 2012

Faculty
A book by MIT professor Sally Haslanger examining social construction theory and its application to race, gender, and other contested social categories.
Other Researchers
Black Faces in White Places, 2010
Book
2010s

Black Faces in White Places, 2010

Alum
A 2010 book by MIT Sloan alumnus Randal Pinkett offering strategies for Black professionals navigating and succeeding in predominantly white institutions and industries.
Other Researchers
CyPhrons: Code of the Realm, 2011
Book
2010s

CyPhrons: Code of the Realm, 2011

Alum
A science fiction novel featuring CyPhrons, virtual beings navigating a coded realm, in a story of hope, faith, and perseverance by an MIT-connected author.
Other Researchers
Article
1970s

A Model for Counseling “High Promise” Minority Freshmen, 1974

Administrator
A 1974 paper proposing a counseling model for high-potential minority freshmen at MIT, addressing retention and academic support for underrepresented students.
MIT Black History Project
Transient Workspaces, 2014
Book
2010s

Transient Workspaces: Technologies of Everyday Innovation in Zimbabwe, 2014

Faculty
A book by MIT professor Clapperton Mavhunga examining how everyday innovation and African mobility traditions shaped technology and knowledge in Zimbabwe.
Other Researchers
Some Moments in My Life, 2013
Book
2010s

Some Moments in My Life, 2013

Alum
A book of poems and personal reflections by MIT alumnus Wilfrid Amisial '72, drawing on his Haitian heritage and Caribbean roots in a collection touching on faith, memory, and joy.
Other Researchers
Democratic Insecurities, 2010
Book
2010s

Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti, 2010

Faculty
A 2010 MIT Press book exploring the ethics of military and humanitarian intervention in Haiti following the 1991 coup, focusing on trauma, violence, and insecurity.
Other Researchers
Megacommunities, 2008
Book
2000s

Megacommunities, 2008

Alum
A 2008 book by MIT-affiliated authors on cross-sector collaboration between business, government, and nonprofits to address large-scale global challenges.
Other Researchers
I Will Love You, Forever! 2009
Book
2000s

I Will Love You, Forever! --The Quantum Mechanics of Love, 2009

Alum
A memoir by MIT professor James H. Williams Jr. about love, the nature of human connection, and whether mutually intense love can transcend death.
Other Researchers
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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