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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Karen Ross Grant, 2017
Oral History
2010s

Maude Ross & Karen Ross Grant, 2017

Alum
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.
Other Researchers
My 21 Years in the White House, 1960
Book
1960s

My 21 Years in the White House, 1960

Staff
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.
Other Researchers
Victor Anioke
Article
2020s

Engineering while Black, 2020

Student
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.
Other Researchers
Benjamin Oberlton
Article
2020s

A small-pond fish in the sea, 2020

Student
MIT biological engineering graduate Benjamin Oberlton '19 reflects on navigating MIT as a Black student before beginning his immunology PhD at Stanford.
Other Researchers
Veronica Muriga
Article
2020s

A front-row seat to #BlackLivesMatter, 2020

Student
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.
Other Researchers
Kidist Adamu
Article
2020s

MIT and Black Greek Letter Organizations: An Interview, 2020

Student
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.
Other Researchers
The Making of Black Lives Matter, 2017
Book
2010s

The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea, 2017

Alum
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.
Other Researchers
The Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans on Aug. 24, 2015. (Mario Tama/Getty)
Article
2020s

Our Country, ‘Tis A Thief, 2020

Student
A personal essay by MIT student Alula Hunsen examining systemic theft and exploitation as foundational elements of American prosperity, from slavery to the present.
Other Researchers
Peddler Dolls books by The Turner Sisters
Book
1960s

Peddler Dolls: Portraying Cryes of Old London and Itinerant Merchants of Early America, 1962-1973

Alum
A scholarly study of peddler dolls depicting historical street vendors, connected to MIT research on trade, material culture, and Atlantic world commerce.
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.
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