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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African American Women Chemists, 2011
Book
2010s

African American Women Chemists, 2011

Alum
A book documenting the overlooked history of African American women who broke racial and gender barriers to become pioneering chemists across the 19th and 20th centuries.
Other Researchers
Jennie R. Patrick
Oral History
2000s

Oral History: Jennie R. Patrick, 2006

Alum
An oral history interview with Dr. Jennie R. Patrick ScD '79, the first Black woman in the US to earn a doctorate in chemical engineering, conducted for the MIT Black History Project.
Other Researchers
African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era, 2018
Book
2010s

African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era, 2018

Multiple
The second volume documenting African American women chemists, focusing on trailblazers from the mid-20th century onward, including several with MIT connections.
Other Researchers
Linda Sharpe_2004
Article
2000s

The Diversity of Diversity: It’s More than Race, 2005

Alum
An article by MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay arguing that true diversity encompasses far more than race, calling for a richer institutional conversation about inclusion.
Other Researchers
Autocracy, Violence, and Ethnomilitary Rule in Nigeria, 1999
Paper
1990s

Autocracy, Violence, and Ethnomilitary Rule in Nigeria, 1999

Visiting
A scholarly paper by MIT political scientist Willard Johnson examining autocracy, ethnic conflict, and military rule in Nigeria, presented at a 1997 MIT conference.
Other Researchers
Kenny Egbuonu
Article
2010s

Because I'm Black, 2018

Student
A personal essay by MIT student Kenny Egbuonu '21 on the experience of being Black at MIT, published in the student journal Angles in 2018.
Other Researchers
An Outline of the Structure of Shilha cover
Book
1950s

An Outline of the Structure of Shilha, 1958

Faculty
A 1958 scholarly work on the structure of Shilha, a Berber language spoken in southwest Morocco, authored by MIT linguist Joseph Applegate.
Other Researchers
Thesis
2000s

The Lost Revolution: Capitalism, democracy and Black citizenship in early 20th-century America's biggest race conflicts, 2007

Student
A 2007 MIT thesis by Kali-Ahset Amen examining how racial conflict and inequality shaped Black citizenship and political agency in early 20th-century America.
Other Researchers
Article
2000s

THE TECH: Perspectives on Diversity, 2004

Student
A student newspaper feature produced as part of MIT's Martin Luther King Jr. Design Seminar, offering diverse personal perspectives on race and diversity at the Institute in 2004.
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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