How Reconstruction Still Shapes American Racism Image: First black legislators in Congress (Time) By Henry Louis Gates, Jr. During an interview with Chris Rock for my PBS series African American Lives 2, we traced the ancestry of several well-known African Americans. When I told Rock that his great-great-grandfather Julius Caesar Tingman had served in
Historians expose early scientists’ debt to the slave trade Image: Hans Sloane collected this specimen of cacao in Jamaica in the 1680s. Sloane often collected on or near slave plantations, taking advantage of slavery’s infrastructure to advance his science. (NHM Images) (ScienceMag.org) At the dawn of the 1700s, European science seemed poised to conquer
40 Years a Slave: The Extraordinary Tale of an African Prince Stolen from His Kingdom Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori was West African royalty before he was enslaved on a Mississippi plantation. Image: Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori (Library of Congress) (History) After a shackled journey across the Atlantic, Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori was desperate to
Seventy-Five Years Ago, the Military’s Only All-Black Female Band Battled the War Department and Won The women of the 404th Armed Service Forces band raised morale and funds for the military, but they had to fight discrimination to do so Photo: The 404th AFS Band pictured in Fort Des Moines (Women's Army Corps and
New TIPHC Exhibit! “Biscuits and Business” The Legacy of Lucille Smith and Southern Black Chefs Lucille Smith In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Texas Institute for the Preservation of History and Culture presents, “Biscuits and Business: The Legacy of Lucille Smith and
The Bold Accomplishments of Women of Color Need to Be a Bigger Part of Suffrage History An upcoming Smithsonian exhibition, “Votes For Women,” delves into the complexities and biases of the nature of persistence Image: Anna Julia Haywood (Cooper), by H.M Platt, 1884 (Courtesy of Oberlin College Archives) (Smithsonian) The history of women gaining
Explore the Underground Railroad’s ‘great central depot’ From Harriet Tubman to Gerrit Smith, abolitionists in central New York ushered thousands of escaped slaves to freedom. (National Geographic) A mere mention of Harriet Tubman or Fredrick Douglass conjures up images of former slaves, abolitionists and the struggle for freedom for enslaved Africans. Both New York
Story of slave, Alamo hero recounted in new book Image: In this sketch by artist Gary Zaboly, a wounded Joe is forced at the point of a bayonet to identify key members of the Alamo garrison after the final attack of March 6, 1836. (Image courtesy of Lee Spencer White) (Houston Chronicle) Texans who
In Search of George Washington Carver’s True Legacy The famed agriculturalist deserves to be known for much more than peanuts Photo: Botanist George Washington Carver, seen here in a 1940 photo, donated $33,000 in cash to the Tuskegee Institute to establish a fund to carry on the agricultural and chemical work he began. (Bettmann) (Smithsonian)
7 black composers who changed the course of classical music history (Classic FM) From Scott Joplin to Florence Price, the music of these brilliant composers has too long been neglected in Western classical music tradition. In Black History Month, we’re celebrating the most famous and influential black composers in classical music history. 1. Joseph