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
1950s

Community facilities in a redevelopment area: a study and proposal for the Ellicott District in Buffalo, New York, 1955

Alum
A 1955 MIT thesis by Robert Traynham Coles proposing a community facilities plan for the Ellicott District in Buffalo, NY, a redevelopment area with a significant Black population.
Other Researchers
Architecture + Advocacy, 2016
Book
2010s

Architecture + Advocacy, 2016

Alum
A richly illustrated book on Robert Traynham Coles, the African American architect from Buffalo who became a leading voice for social advocacy through design.
Other Researchers
STEM Gems, 2016
Book
2010s

STEM Gems: How 44 Women Shine in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and How You Can Too!, 2016

Alum
A book by MIT alumna Stephanie Espy profiling 44 women in STEM fields, designed to inspire girls to pursue science and engineering through diverse role models and career stories.
Other Researchers
Linda-Sharpe_2004
Oral History
2010s

Interview: Linda Sharpe '69, MIT Alumni President, 2013

Alum
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.
Other Researchers
Ernie Cohen, 1964
Oral History
2010s

Ernie Cohen '64 in His Own Words, 2014

Alum
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.
MIT Black History Project
Journey Towards Making a Better World
Report
2010s

Journey Towards Making a Better World: In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Founding of The Black Students Union at MIT, 2018

Administrator
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.
Other Researchers
Broken Bonds: My Immoderate Life of Love, Passion, War on Affirmative Action and Jack Welch's GE, 2004
Book
2000s

Broken Bonds: My Immoderate Life of Love, Passion, War on Affirmative Action and Jack Welch's GE, 2004

Alum
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.
Other Researchers
Reflections of the Dream
Book
1990s

Reflections of the Dream, 1996

Administrator
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.
MIT Black History Project
HS student visitors to MIT, 1972
Article
2010s

The BSU at 50, 2018

Multiple
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.
Other Researchers
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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