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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Mind and Hand
Book
2000s

Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT, 2005

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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.
Other Researchers
Report
1980s

The Racial Climate on the MIT Campus, 1986

Administrator
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.
Other Researchers
Report
1970s

A Study of the Number of Black Graduate Student Applications for Fall, 1970

No items found.
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.
Other Researchers
Joseph Applegate
Article
1990s

Professor Joseph Applegate, 1997

Administrator
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.
MIT Black History Project
Article splash
Article
1990s

A Break in the Pipeline, 1999

Administrator
A 1999 Technology Review article examining the underrepresentation of Black faculty and students in the academic pipeline at MIT and peer institutions.
Other Researchers
Brochure cover
Proceedings
1980s

1st National Conference on Issues Facing Black Administrators at Predominantly White Colleges and Universities, 1982

Administrator
Proceedings from the 1982 national conference examining the challenges faced by Black administrators working in predominantly white colleges and universities.
MIT Black History Project
Shorter Views
Article
1990s

The Rhetoric of Sex, the Discourse of Desire, 1992

Visiting
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.
Other Researchers
Ebony & Ivy cover
Book
2010s

Ebony and Ivy, 2013

Faculty
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.
Other Researchers
NACA Report: Dynamics of Mechanical Feedback-Type Hydraulic Servomotors Under Inertia Loads, 1953
Report
1950s

NACA Report: Dynamics of Mechanical Feedback-Type Hydraulic Servomotors Under Inertia Loads, 1953

Alum
A NACA technical report by MIT-trained aeronautical engineer Yenwith Whitney analyzing the dynamics of hydraulic servomotors used in aircraft control systems.
Other Researchers
The M.I.T. Fellows in Africa Program, 1963
Article
2022
Other Researchers
1960s
Other Researchers
1960s
Article
An article documenting the MIT Fellows in Africa Program, conceived in 1960 to send MIT-trained professionals to support newly independent African nations.
Faculty
MIT Sloan’s first tenured female professor tackled workplace discrimination, 2021
Article
2021
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
A profile of MIT Sloan professor Phyllis Wallace, the first tenured Black woman at MIT Sloan, who led landmark research on workplace discrimination and the AT&T case.
Faculty
Linda Datcher Loury: Pioneer in social economics, 2011
Article
2021
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
A 2011 Boston Globe obituary for MIT economist Linda Datcher Loury PhD '78, a pioneer in social economics whose research on race, family, and inequality shaped the field.
Alum
INTERPHASE 45th Anniversary- Honoring the Legacy: Past, Present, and Future (2014)
Other
2021
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Other
Program booklet for the 45th anniversary celebration of MIT's Interphase program, honoring its legacy of preparing underrepresented students for STEM success at MIT.
Administrator
Technology and the Dream, 2001
Book
2017
MIT Black History Project
2000s
MIT Black History Project
2000s
Book
A landmark MIT Press book collecting over 75 oral history interviews with Black students, faculty, and staff reflecting on six decades of the Black experience at the Institute.
Administrator
Journey of The Lost Souls (JoTLS), 2013
Book
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A 2013 collection of rap poems and reflections by MIT-connected author Robert Dunbar exploring themes of identity, struggle, and redemption.
Alum
Carrie Mae Weems, 2021
Other
2021
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Other
An MIT Press monograph of essays and interviews exploring the photography and art of Carrie Mae Weems and its significance within African American art history.
No items found.
I'm A Black, Gay Physician. I'm Here Today Because My Friends Saw Me — All Of Me, 2021
Article
2021
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
MIT alumnus Chase T.M. Anderson MD '11 writes about surviving a mental health crisis as a Black gay physician, crediting the friends who recognized his distress and intervened.
Alum
Race and Excellence: My Dialogue with Chester Pierce, 1998
Book
2021
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Book
A book documenting wide-ranging conversations between Clarence G. Williams and MIT psychiatrist Chester Pierce, a pioneering scholar of racism's psychological effects who served the Institute for 25 years.
Faculty
Maria W. Stewart, America’s First Black Woman Political Writer: Essays and Speeches, 1987
Book
2018
Other Researchers
1980s
Other Researchers
1980s
Book
A scholarly edition of writings by Maria W. Stewart, the first American-born woman to speak publicly on political topics, edited by MIT professor Marilyn Richardson.
Faculty
Building an Online Home for Black History, 2021
Article
2021
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
A 2021 profile of MIT alumnus Ken Granderson '85 and his mission to build BlackFacts.com into a comprehensive online resource for Black history and culture.
Alum
Meeting Whirlwind's Joe Thompson, 2019
Article
2021
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
A profile of Joe Thompson, one of the first two Black employees trained on MIT's Whirlwind computer in 1951, documenting an overlooked chapter in computing history.
Staff
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