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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Thesis
1970s

Black entrepreneurship in the US: An historical appraisal, contemporary problems and future prospects (a study in demand for entrepreneurship), 1971

Student
A 1971 MIT dissertation by Robert Bofah examining the historical development of Black entrepreneurship in the United States and the structural barriers to its growth.
Other Researchers
The Negro and MIT
Article
1960s

The Negro and MIT, 1968

Student
An essay by MIT student Robert Fleming '71 published in 1968, examining the role and presence of Black students and faculty at the Institute during a pivotal moment in civil rights history.
Other Researchers
Victor C. Smith
Thesis
1930s

A study of homogenous combustion in gases, 1930

Student
The 1930 ScD thesis of Victor Claude Smith, one of the earliest Black doctoral graduates in chemical engineering in the United States, on combustion chemistry at MIT.
Other Researchers
Islandborn, 2018
Book
2010s

Islandborn, 2018

Faculty
A picture book by Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz, inspired by a child's longing for her Dominican homeland, celebrating culture, memory, and belonging.
Other Researchers
Thesis
1970s

Coping with Poverty and Prejudice: How Rural Blacks Adapt Environmentally to the Constraints of Society, 1978 [duplicate]

Student
A 1978 MIT thesis (alternate record) examining how poverty and racial prejudice shape the physical environments of rural Black Americans in the South.
Other Researchers
James Edward Young, 1946
Thesis
1950s

Propagation of sound in attenuating ducts containing absorptive strips, 1953

Student
A 1953 MIT doctoral thesis by James E. Young, who would become the Department of Physics' first Black tenured faculty member, on sound propagation in ducts with absorptive strips.
Other Researchers
Black Panther: Jungle Action (1973)
Other
1970s

Black Panther: Panther's Rage (1973)

Multiple
The 1973 Marvel comic story arc introducing Erik Killmonger, whose fictional backstory as an MIT-educated engineer shaped one of Black Panther's most enduring villains.
Other Researchers
Technology Review MIT News cover Jan/Feb 2018
Article
2010s

The Remarkable Career of Shirley Ann Jackson, 2017

Multiple
A Technology Review profile of Shirley Ann Jackson '68 PhD '73 — the first Black woman to earn a PhD from MIT — tracing her career in physics, policy, and university leadership.
Other Researchers
The present state of Hayti (Saint Domingo), 1971
Book
1970s

The present state of Hayti (Saint Domingo), 1828 [1971]

Faculty
A book offering a rare 19th-century firsthand account of Haitian agriculture, commerce, laws, and society, reissued in 1971 with context connecting it to MIT's history.
Other Researchers
Type
Timeline
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.
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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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