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.

Filter
Clear all
Showing 0 of 100
Researcher
Type
Timeline
MIT Affiliation
Clear all
Filter close icon
Filter open icon
Filters
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
Black entrepreneurship in the US: An historical appraisal, contemporary problems and future prospects (a study in demand for entrepreneurship), 1971
Thesis
2018
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Thesis
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.
Student
The Negro and MIT, 1968
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1960s
Other Researchers
1960s
Article
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.
Student
A study of homogenous combustion in gases, 1930
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1930s
Other Researchers
1930s
Thesis
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.
Student
Islandborn, 2018
Book
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A picture book by Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz, inspired by a child's longing for her Dominican homeland, celebrating culture, memory, and belonging.
Faculty
Coping with Poverty and Prejudice: How Rural Blacks Adapt Environmentally to the Constraints of Society, 1978 [duplicate]
Thesis
2018
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Thesis
A 1978 MIT thesis (alternate record) examining how poverty and racial prejudice shape the physical environments of rural Black Americans in the South.
Student
Propagation of sound in attenuating ducts containing absorptive strips, 1953
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1950s
Other Researchers
1950s
Thesis
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.
Student
Black Panther: Panther's Rage (1973)
Other
2018
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Other
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.
Multiple
The Remarkable Career of Shirley Ann Jackson, 2017
Article
2018
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
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.
Multiple
The present state of Hayti (Saint Domingo), 1828 [1971]
Book
2018
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Book
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.
Faculty
Characterization of polygrama green photopolymer for Compact Optoelectronic Integrated Neural (COIN) coprocessor applications, 2008
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Thesis
A 2008 MIT thesis characterizing a green photopolymer material for use in compact optoelectronic neural coprocessor applications in the Photonic Systems Group.
Student
A Bit More About Paul and Priscilla Gray, 2017
Article
2017
MIT Black History Project
2010s
MIT Black History Project
2010s
Article
A tribute to MIT President Paul Gray (1932-2017) and his wife Priscilla, written by colleagues who witnessed their commitment to the MIT community.
Multiple
Angolan Revolution - Vol. 2: Exile Politics and Guerilla Warfare, 1962-1976, 1978
Book
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Book
The second volume of Willard Johnson's history of the Angolan revolution, covering exile politics and guerrilla warfare from 1962 to 1976.
No items found.
No results found.
There are no results with this criteria. Try changing your search.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Have a piece of MIT black history to share?

If you have an important item you believe the project should consider for its collection, please share it with the MIT Black History Project.

Share History