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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Song of the Water Saints
Book
2000s

Song of the Water Saints: A Novel, 2002

Alum
A debut novel by MIT writing professor Nelly Rosario tracing three generations of Dominican women across continents, blending poetic prose with the weight of memory and migration.
Other Researchers
Tackling Jim Crow
Book
2000s

Tackling Jim Crow: Racial Segregation in Professional Football, 2003

No items found.
A book documenting the history of racial segregation in professional football, with a focus on MIT alumnus William Arthur Johnson who broke the color barrier in the NFL.
Other Researchers
What Makes Racial Diversity Work in Higher Education
Article
2000s

The MIT Experience: Personal Perspectives on Race in a Predominantly White University, 2004

Administrator
An article by MIT's Clarence G. Williams reflecting on his experiences of race at the Institute, published as a chapter in a volume on diversity in higher education.
MIT Black History Project
Article
2000s

William Barton Rogers and the Southern Sieve, 2005

Administrator
An article examining the complicated relationship between MIT founder William Barton Rogers, his scientific career in the antebellum South, and the institution of slavery.
Other Researchers
The Serious Search for Black Faculty at MIT page
Article
1990s

The Serious Search for Black Faculty at MIT, 1995

Faculty
An article documenting MIT's 1995 efforts to recruit Black faculty, naming the eight tenured Black professors then at the Institute and examining the barriers to diversification.
Other Researchers
The Gilded Years
Book
2010s

The Gilded Years, 2016

Alum
A novel by Karin Tanabe based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, who passed as white at Vassar in 1897, with a fictional subplot involving her brother, a connection to MIT.
Other Researchers
HBCUs Facing the Future, 2012
Paper
2010s

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Facing the Future, 2012

Faculty
A 2012 study examining the challenges facing Historically Black Colleges and Universities and proposing strategies for their long-term sustainability and relevance.
Other Researchers
A Widening Sphere
Book
2010s

A Widening Sphere: Evolving Cultures at MIT, 2011

Administrator
A 2011 MIT Press book tracing the evolution of MIT's culture from its 1861 founding through more than a century of growth, diversity, and institutional transformation.
Other Researchers
Countless Connecting Threads, 2013
Book
2010s

Countless Connecting Threads, 2013

Administrator
A 2013 illustrated history of MIT celebrating the interconnected contributions of its faculty, students, and alumni across 150 years of science, engineering, and society.
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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