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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Water Marked: A Novel, 1999
Book
1990s

Water Marked: A Novel, 1999

Faculty
A novel by MIT professor Helen Elaine Lee about two estranged African American sisters who reunite to understand their father, written in lyrical prose balancing grief and beauty.
Other Researchers
The Properties of Violence, 2013
Book
2010s

The Properties of Violence: Claims to Ownership in Representations of Lynching, 2013

Faculty
A book by MIT professor Saidiya Hartman examining representations of lynching in American culture and the contested questions of ownership in the history of racial violence.
Other Researchers
The Politics of Official Apologies, 2008
Book
2000s

The Politics of Official Apologies, 2008

Faculty
A book by MIT professor Melissa Nobles examining how official government apologies in the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are deployed for political purposes.
Other Researchers
Aerospace Engineer Aprille Ericsson, 2015
Book
2010s

Aerospace Engineer Aprille Ericsson, 2015

Alum
A children's biography of NASA aerospace engineer Aprille Ericsson, tracing her journey from science fair competitor to trailblazing rocket scientist and role model.
Other Researchers
Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee, 2011
Book
2010s

Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington, 2011

Alum
A book interweaving the life of Robert Robinson Taylor, MIT's first Black graduate and the first accredited Black architect, with the story of his 40-year career building Tuskegee Institute.
Other Researchers
Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just, 1983
Book
1980s

Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just, 1983

Faculty
A biography of Ernest Everett Just, the pioneering African American marine biologist whose extraordinary scientific career was shaped by racial barriers in early 20th-century America.
Other Researchers
Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities, 2015
Book
2010s

Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities: Building Bridges of Hope through the Holy Spirit, 2015

Alum
A book by MIT alumnus exploring the intersection of racism, health disparities, and spiritual well-being, drawing on theology and public health to propose a path toward healing.
Other Researchers
Ron's Big Mission, 2009
Book
2000s

Ron's Big Mission, 2009

Alum
A children's picture book about young Ron McNair's determined trip to a segregated library in 1959, a pivotal moment that set the future MIT physicist and astronaut on his path.
Other Researchers
Abundance of Miracles: Autobiography of Charles A. Cofield, 2013
Book
2010s

Abundance of Miracles: Autobiography of Charles A. Cofield, 2013

Alum
The autobiography of Charles A. Cofield, MIT Class of 1972, tracing his path from Howard University student on the night of MLK's assassination to architect and community builder.
Other Researchers
Type
Timeline
Henry C. McBay: A Chemical Festschrift, 1994
Proceedings
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Proceedings
Proceedings of a 1994 symposium honoring MIT-affiliated chemist Henry C. McBay, featuring tributes from colleagues across the scientific community.
Visiting
Affirmative action got me into MIT. The cycle that disadvantaged me continues.
Article
2020
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
MIT alumnus Rodgerick Newhouse '97 reflects on how affirmative action opened MIT's doors for him, and why the systemic inequities that shaped his path have yet to be addressed.
Alum
On Indigenous People’s Day, Let’s Commit to an Anticolonial Mindset on Earth and in Space, 2020
Article
2020
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
An essay by MIT student Danielle Wood calling for an anticolonial approach to science and technology on Indigenous People's Day, grounded in land acknowledgment.
Multiple
Maude Ross & Karen Ross Grant, 2017
Oral History
2020
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Oral History
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.
Alum
My 21 Years in the White House, 1960
Book
2017
Other Researchers
1960s
Other Researchers
1960s
Book
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.
Staff
Engineering while Black, 2020
Article
2020
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
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.
Student
A small-pond fish in the sea, 2020
Article
2020
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
MIT biological engineering graduate Benjamin Oberlton '19 reflects on navigating MIT as a Black student before beginning his immunology PhD at Stanford.
Student
A front-row seat to #BlackLivesMatter, 2020
Article
2020
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
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.
Student
MIT and Black Greek Letter Organizations: An Interview, 2020
Article
2020
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
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.
Student
The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea, 2017
Book
2020
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
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.
Alum
Our Country, ‘Tis A Thief, 2020
Article
2020
Other Researchers
2020s
Other Researchers
2020s
Article
A personal essay by MIT student Alula Hunsen examining systemic theft and exploitation as foundational elements of American prosperity, from slavery to the present.
Student
Peddler Dolls: Portraying Cryes of Old London and Itinerant Merchants of Early America, 1962-1973
Book
2017
Other Researchers
1960s
Other Researchers
1960s
Book
A scholarly study of peddler dolls depicting historical street vendors, connected to MIT research on trade, material culture, and Atlantic world commerce.
Alum
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