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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Ron McNair in The Physics of Karate, 1979
Article
1970s

The Physics of Karate, 1979

Faculty
A Scientific American article co-authored by MIT physicist Ronald McNair PhD '77 and his mentor Michael Feld, analyzing the biomechanics behind how martial artists break boards with bare hands.
Other Researchers
Michael Feld and Ron McNair
Article
2010s

Counteracting Hate with Positive Diversity Stories, 2017

Alum
A 2017 article examining the friendship between MIT physicist Michael Feld and a Black colleague, and how their bond became a model for countering hate with positive diversity.
Other Researchers
Soldiers' Home
Thesis
1890s

A Soldiers Home, 1892

Student
An 1892 architectural thesis by Robert Robinson Taylor, MIT's first Black graduate, documenting a design for a soldiers' home and marking a historic first in American architectural education.
Other Researchers
Dallas Brown
Thesis
1910s

Comparative wearing tests on different makes of globe and gate valves, 1910

Student
The 1910 MIT thesis of Dallas Brown Jr. '10, one of the Institute's early Black graduates, on comparative wear testing of industrial valves used in mechanical engineering.
Other Researchers
Page from The Negro Farmer
Article
1910s

The Negro Farmer [excerpt]

Alum
An article excerpt by Robert Robinson Taylor '92 written for MIT's 1913 Negro Farmer publication, describing the work of training Black agricultural professionals at Tuskegee.
Other Researchers
Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, 2013
Book
2010s

Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, 2013

Faculty
A history of Bengali Muslim immigrants in early 20th-century America, tracing forgotten communities in Harlem and beyond, by MIT professor Vivek Bald.
Other Researchers
Crazy Enough To Try, 2015
Book
2010s

Crazy Enough To Try, 2015

Alum
A 2015 book by MIT-connected author Joi Gordon encouraging readers to integrate personal passion into their professional lives, drawing on her own journey from student to nonprofit leader.
Other Researchers
This Is How You Lose Her, 2012
Book
2010s

This Is How You Lose Her, 2012

Faculty
A novel by MIT professor Junot Diaz following the passions and losses of Yunior, a Dominican-American man navigating love and identity across New Jersey and the Caribbean.
Other Researchers
Phantasmal Media, 2013
Book
2010s

Phantasmal Media, 2013

Faculty
A 2013 MIT Press book by D. Fox Harrell examining how computing systems shape imagination, identity, memory, and social experience.
Other Researchers
Type
Timeline
Interview: Linda Sharpe '69, MIT Alumni President, 2013
Oral History
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Oral History
A 2013 interview with Linda Sharpe '69, the first Black woman to serve as president of the MIT Alumni Association, reflecting on her MIT years and volunteer leadership.
Alum
Ernie Cohen '64 in His Own Words, 2014
Oral History
2018
MIT Black History Project
2010s
MIT Black History Project
2010s
Oral History
A 2014 BAMIT newsletter tribute to Ernest Cohen '64, sharing his personal reflections on being a Black student at MIT during the civil rights era.
Alum
Journey Towards Making a Better World: In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Founding of The Black Students Union at MIT, 2018
Report
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Report
A report documenting MIT Black Students' Union's 50th anniversary trip to Washington D.C. in 2018, organized to deepen students' appreciation of African American history and culture.
Administrator
Broken Bonds: My Immoderate Life of Love, Passion, War on Affirmative Action and Jack Welch's GE, 2004
Book
2018
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Book
A memoir by a Black GE executive recounting his experiences with affirmative action, corporate discrimination, and a contentious career inside Jack Welch's General Electric.
Alum
Reflections of the Dream, 1996
Book
2017
MIT Black History Project
1990s
MIT Black History Project
1990s
Book
A book collecting speeches from MIT's annual Martin Luther King Jr. convocation over two decades, celebrating the legacy of the civil rights movement and Black achievement at the Institute.
Administrator
The BSU at 50, 2018
Article
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
A Technology Review article marking the 50th anniversary of MIT's Black Students' Union, tracing the organization's founding in 1968 and its lasting impact on the Institute.
Multiple
African American Women Chemists, 2011
Book
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
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.
Alum
Oral History: Jennie R. Patrick, 2006
Oral History
2018
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Oral History
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.
Alum
African American Women Chemists in the Modern Era, 2018
Book
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
The second volume documenting African American women chemists, focusing on trailblazers from the mid-20th century onward, including several with MIT connections.
Multiple
The Diversity of Diversity: It’s More than Race, 2005
Article
2018
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
An article by MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay arguing that true diversity encompasses far more than race, calling for a richer institutional conversation about inclusion.
Alum
Autocracy, Violence, and Ethnomilitary Rule in Nigeria, 1999
Paper
2018
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Paper
A scholarly paper by MIT political scientist Willard Johnson examining autocracy, ethnic conflict, and military rule in Nigeria, presented at a 1997 MIT conference.
Visiting
Because I'm Black, 2018
Article
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
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.
Student
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