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
The study of a multiperipheral model with continued cross channel unitarity, 1973
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Thesis
A 1973 MIT thesis by Shirley Ann Jackson '68, the first Black woman to earn a PhD from MIT, on particle physics and the multiperipheral model.
Student
Tunneling density of states behavior in superconducting niobium-titanium, 1968
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1960s
Other Researchers
1960s
Thesis
A 1968 MIT undergraduate thesis by Shirley Ann Jackson on superconducting tunneling junctions, the first of her two MIT degrees and the beginning of a historic scientific career.
Student
Coping with poverty and prejudice: how rural blacks adapt environmentally to the constraints of society, 1978
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Thesis
A 1978 MIT thesis examining how poverty and racial prejudice shape the physical environments, homes, and communities of rural Black Americans in the South.
Student
The influence of meaningful citizen participation on the urban renewal process and the renewal of the inner-city's black community: a case study, 1969
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1960s
Other Researchers
1960s
Thesis
A 1969 MIT thesis by Reginald Griffith '55 examining how meaningful community participation can transform urban renewal outcomes in inner-city Black neighborhoods.
Student
Energy absorption and vibrational heating in molecules following intense laser excitation, 1976
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Thesis
A 1975 MIT doctoral thesis examining energy absorption and vibrational heating in molecules following intense laser excitation.
Student
Class Struggle: Poor, Black and Smart, An Inner-City Teen Tries to Survive M.I.T., 1994
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
A 1994 Wall Street Journal feature following Cedric Jennings, a Black teenager from inner-city Washington D.C., as he navigates the pressures of MIT's first year.
No items found.
Symmetry Principles in Selected Problems of String Theory, 1973
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Thesis
A 1973 MIT doctoral thesis by S. James Gates Jr., the first thesis ever devoted to supersymmetry in physics, marking a landmark in theoretical particle physics.
Student
Ebony Affair: Twenty Years of Ebony, 1995
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
Program booklet for the 1995 Ebony Affair, MIT's 20th annual celebration organized by the Black Students' Union showcasing Black student achievement and community.
Student
Melissa Nobles: All About the Count, 2007
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
A 2007 MIT News profile of political science professor Melissa Nobles, whose research on racial classification and census politics shaped policy debates internationally.
Faculty
Mens et Mania: The MIT Nobody Knows, 2011
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A behind-the-scenes memoir by MIT linguistics professor Jay Keyser, offering a candid and witty portrait of life at the Institute away from its public-facing reputation.
Administrator
The Territory Between Us: A Report on "Black Women in the Academy..." 1994
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
An article by scholar Saidiya Hartman reporting on the landmark 1994 'Black Women in the Academy' conference held at MIT, attended by over 2,000 scholars and activists.
No items found.
Black Firms to Share MIT Life Insurance Business, 1976
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Article
A 1976 MIT report documenting the Institute's decision to share life insurance business with two major Black-owned insurance companies as part of its diversity commitments.
Administrator
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