Black History Month Resources

People

Sojourner Truth

A former slave, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century.

Judge Bolin was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, the first to join the New York City Bar Association, and the first to work in the office of the New York City corporation counsel, the city’s legal department.

Josephine Baker

World renowned performer, World War II spy, and activist are few of the titles used to describe Josephine Baker.

Shirley Chisholm

Pioneering African American politician Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) began her professional career as a teacher. In 1968, Chisholm became the first African American to earn election to Congress, where she worked on the Education and Labor Committee and helped form the Black Caucus.

Nat Turner

Nathanial “Nat” Turner (1800-1831) was an enslaved man who led a rebellion of enslaved people on August 21, 1831. His action set off a massacre of up to 200 Black people and a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of enslaved people

Articles

8 Things We Know About Crispus Attucks

Crispus Attucks, a multiracial man who had escaped slavery, is known as the first American colonist killed in the American Revolution.

Black Women Who Have Run for President

Since 1968, 11 Black women have entered the running for the highest office in the nation.

Black History Facts

The celebration of Black History Month began as “Negro History Week,” which was created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator and publisher.

Black History Milestones: Timeline

The date and the story of the enslaved Africans have become symbolic of slavery’s roots, despite captive and free Africans likely being present in the Americas in the 1400s and as early as 1526 in the region that would become the United States.

NASA's Real 'Hidden Figures'

Reference article: Facts about the women highlighted in "Hidden Figures."

13 Black Women from History You Probably Didn't Learn About but Should Know

When you think about important figures in black history, names like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass likely come to mind. But there's no denying that black women have played a powerful and important role in history, though you may not hear their stories as often.

Six Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement

Though their stories are sometimes overlooked, these women were instrumental in the fight for equal rights for African-Americans.

Books

Currently Reading

“I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”- Maya Angelou

5 New Books on Black History and Life

These five new books offer vital insight into the richness of Black history and some of the underacknowledged complexities of Black contemporary life.

Centering Black Lives: A Reading List for All Ages

This list brings together a varied group of memoirs by African American and Black authors, each of which shares their unique journey and perspectives, and illustrates some of the diversity of the Black experience