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
Article
1990s

MIT's Mea Culpa: Now, What About Black Faculty?, 1999

No items found.
A 1999 analysis of MIT's landmark report on discrimination against women faculty, and whether its findings would prompt similar action for Black faculty.
Other Researchers
Technology and Insustrial Efficiency cover
Paper
1910s

The Scientific Development of the Negro, 1911

Alum
A paper delivered by Robert Robinson Taylor '92 at MIT's 50th anniversary celebration in 1911, arguing for the scientific education of Black Americans as a path to progress.
Other Researchers
Article
1940s

The Civil Engineer, 1946

Alum
An article profiling Lewis King Downing '24, the first Black graduate of MIT's Sloan School, who went on to a distinguished career as a civil engineer and college president.
Other Researchers
Article
2010s

The Desegregation of an Elite Economics Department’s PhD Program: Black Americans at MIT, 2014

Alum
An article tracing the history of Black PhD students in MIT's economics department from the 1970s onward, examining barriers to entry and outcomes over four decades.
Other Researchers
J.R. Applegate
Article
1990s

The African-American Linguist Who Broke the Faculty Barrier at MIT, 1997

No items found.
An article documenting how Joseph Applegate, MIT's first Black faculty member, broke the faculty color barrier as a linguist in 1955 and paved the way for those who followed.
Other Researchers
Figure 2- The battle for ‘Trayvon Martin’
Article
2010s

The battle for ‘Trayvon Martin’: Mapping a media controversy online and off-line, 2014

Faculty
An academic article by MIT professor Sasha Costanza-Chock analyzing how the Trayvon Martin case spread through social media and shaped public discourse on race and violence.
Other Researchers
Article
1990s

Role Models and Mentors for Blacks at Predominantly White Campuses, 1994

Administrator
An article arguing that educators must invest in mentorship and role models for Black students at predominantly white institutions to improve retention and success.
MIT Black History Project
Grid of students prior to the Class of 1930
Thesis
1980s

Notes on Researching Blacks at MIT prior to the Class of 1930, 1983

Student
A 1983 MIT research note reconstructing the fragmentary records of early Black students at MIT before the Class of 1930.
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