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Sepia-toned photograph of four young women posing on outdoor stone steps. They wear long skirts, high-collared blouses with puffed sleeves, and decorative hats. Each leans on one arm with a composed expression, creating a staged, fashion-focused portrait from the late 19th or early 20th century.

Black History is American History: Perspectives from Historical Primary Sources

Explore Black history and American history with these resources and articles for research, teaching and learning. Discover more in the Readex blog archives. Celebrating the Remarkable Life and Work of...

“Choose your goal, and success is yours…Follow it, even though you may never reach it.”: Lloyd Gaines and the Case Against the University of Missouri

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education and declared state laws establishing “separate but equal” public schooling to be unconstitutional...

Booker T. Washington, half-length portrait, seated at desk. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The Early Histories of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Part III: Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute

Booker Taliaferro Washington was born April 5, 1856 in Virginia the son of an enslaved woman named Jane who later, after emancipation, was able to reunite with her husband, Washington Ferguson, in...

Aerial view of a large red-brick historic building, Jubilee Hall at Fisk University, with a steep slate roof, ornate dormer windows, and a tall central spire rising above a white belfry. The building is surrounded by trees, with a distant landscape and clear blue sky in the background.

The Early Histories of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Part II: Fisk University and the Jubilee Singers

Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee opened on January 9, 1866 more than year before Howard University. While Howard was beset by controversy from its beginning, Fisk seems to have had a...

Wide daytime photograph of a Howard University building, a large red-brick institutional building with white trim and a central clock tower topped by a dome. The building sits on a landscaped lawn with trees and shrubs under a clear blue sky, suggesting a historic school or government campus.

The Early Histories of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Part 1: Howard University

“This institution bids fair to do great good.” — New York Evening Post (1867) Historically Black Colleges and Universities, commonly referred to as HBCUs, have graduated tens of thousands of men and...

Black-and-white 19th-century illustration of four well-dressed men surrounding a wooden crate. A Black man sits inside the open crate while two men behind him hold a large sheet or sign. One man gestures theatrically, and another carries a basket, suggesting a staged performance or prank.

'Forwarded as Merchandise': News Coverage of Henry Box Brown’s Remarkable Quest for Freedom

As an enslaved man, Henry Brown’s experience was not atypical; he was allowed to marry and have children, but as human property he and his family could be permanently separated from each other on a...

Color painting of a rural village scene with a white church topped by a green dome, several large white buildings, and many people running across a grassy field. A herd of horses gallops through the foreground while children and adults scatter, suggesting a sudden commotion or chase in a 19th-century setting.

Noyes Complaints: A White Mob (and 90 Yoke of Oxen) Drag a Racially Integrated School from Its Foundations in 1835 New Hampshire

Blame it on a literal reading of the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1834, the New Hampshire state legislature granted a charter to found Noyes Academy in the rural Town of Canaan. Because the...

Scanned page of printed dialogue titled “Don’t Get Weary—Continued,” featuring a conversation between characters Sally and Johnny in dialect. At the bottom is a section titled “Don’t Get Weary; or, ‘Johnny You’ve Been a Bad Boy,’” with musical notation and lyrics, and a copyright notice dated 1877.

Why de dickens?: The Lampooning of African Americans as an American Form of Entertainment

Included in the second release [2018] of Nineteenth-Century American Drama: Popular Culture and Entertainment, 1820-1900, are several minstrel plays. Developed in the United States beginning in the...

Woodcut illustration from “Rapp’s Comic Almanac, 1844” showing a chaotic crowd scene outside a building. A man in the foreground runs while people behind him push forward and wave their arms, suggesting a riot or frantic chase.

Illustrated Comic or Satirical Publications in Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922

The current release [2018] of Afro-Americana Imprints , 1535-1922: From the Library Company of Philadelphia includes several illustrated comic or satirical works published in the 19th century. Life...

Black-and-white engraved portrait of a woman in late 18th- or early 19th-century dress, shown in three-quarter view with powdered, upswept hair and a ribbon at the back. A handwritten note below reads “Yours very sincerely,” followed by a signature. Faint printed publication text appears near the bottom margin.

‘Mutterings of Pent-up Wrath’: Highlights from Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922

The July [2017] release of Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922 : From the Library Company of Philadelphia includes examinations of slavery and the slave trade by a poet, an abolitionist society, and a...

Color illustration of a busy waterfront ferry landing with boats and sailboats in the background. People gather along a wooden dock, while a horse pulls a cart near the shoreline beside buildings, suggesting a 19th-century river or harbor crossing.

‘Imagination! Who can sing thy force?’—Highlights from Black Authors, 1556-1922

The January [2017] release of Black Authors, 1556-1922 : Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia includes: ♦ a description of the first major yellow fever epidemic in the United States ♦ a...

Title page and opening text of an “Anti-Slavery Tracts, No. 9” pamphlet titled “Influence of Slavery Upon the White Population,” by a former resident of slave states. The page includes several paragraphs discussing the effects of slavery on society and character, with a handwritten note near the top margin.

“A common railer and brawler”: Highlights from The American Slavery Collection

The May [2016] release of The American Slavery Collection, 1820-1922: From the American Antiquarian Society includes a document arguing that slavery enslaves the owners as well as the enslaved...

Parchment-like background with black type: "Brother Jonathan vs. John Bull: A Review by a Plebeian

“A Blessing No Doubt”: Works of Parody and Satire in the Anti-Slavery Cause

The March [2016] release of The American Slavery Collection, 1820-1922: From the American Antiquarian Society includes two works that employ parody and satire to counter the arguments of the pro...

Title page of a book titled “Atrocious Judges: Lives of Judges Infamous as Tools of Tyrants and Instruments of Oppression.” It notes the work was compiled from judicial biographies by John Lord Campbell and includes an appendix on the case of Passmore Williamson. Edited with introduction and notes by Richard Hildreth. Published in New York and Auburn by Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1856.

“A Land under the Curse of Slavery”: Highlights from The American Slavery Collection, 1820-1922

The February [2016] release of The American Slavery Collection, 1820-1922: From the American Antiquarian Society includes letters of dissent from within the Presbyterian Church, a compilation of...

Simple black-and-white diagram of a ship’s deck plan, showing an elongated oval vessel with labeled sections for rooms, cabins, baggage area, and other compartments arranged along the center and sides.

Rebellion, Riot, and Mutiny: Compelling Criminal Trials in Afro-Americana Imprints

A recent release [2014] of Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922, includes compelling accounts of several significant criminal trials. Five of these, spanning the years 1824 to 1851, are highlighted...

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