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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Karen Ross Grant, 2017
Oral History
2010s

Maude Ross & Karen Ross Grant, 2017

Alum
A digital exhibit exploring the lives of Maude Ross and Karen Ross Grant, connecting the stories of two Black women across generations through a South Carolina archive.
Other Researchers
My 21 Years in the White House, 1960
Book
1960s

My 21 Years in the White House, 1960

Staff
The memoir of Alonzo Fields, a Black MIT service worker who rose to become Chief Usher at the White House, serving four presidents over 21 years.
Other Researchers
Victor Anioke
Article
2020s

Engineering while Black, 2020

Student
MIT alumnus Vincent Anioke '17, a software engineer at Google, reflects on being Black in the tech industry and the reckoning that followed George Floyd's death.
Other Researchers
Benjamin Oberlton
Article
2020s

A small-pond fish in the sea, 2020

Student
MIT biological engineering graduate Benjamin Oberlton '19 reflects on navigating MIT as a Black student before beginning his immunology PhD at Stanford.
Other Researchers
Veronica Muriga
Article
2020s

A front-row seat to #BlackLivesMatter, 2020

Student
MIT student Veronica Muriga '22 summarizes the 2020 petition supporting Black lives at MIT, offering a first-person account of the campus response to the racial justice movement.
Other Researchers
Kidist Adamu
Article
2020s

MIT and Black Greek Letter Organizations: An Interview, 2020

Student
A 2020 MIT interview with Black members of Greek letter organizations discussing the role of fraternities, sororities, and other groups in the Black MIT student experience.
Other Researchers
The Making of Black Lives Matter, 2017
Book
2010s

The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea, 2017

Alum
A book by MIT PhD alumnus Christopher Lebron tracing the philosophical and intellectual origins of the Black Lives Matter movement and its roots in the tradition of Black political thought.
Other Researchers
The Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans on Aug. 24, 2015. (Mario Tama/Getty)
Article
2020s

Our Country, ‘Tis A Thief, 2020

Student
A personal essay by MIT student Alula Hunsen examining systemic theft and exploitation as foundational elements of American prosperity, from slavery to the present.
Other Researchers
Peddler Dolls books by The Turner Sisters
Book
1960s

Peddler Dolls: Portraying Cryes of Old London and Itinerant Merchants of Early America, 1962-1973

Alum
A scholarly study of peddler dolls depicting historical street vendors, connected to MIT research on trade, material culture, and Atlantic world commerce.
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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