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
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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