African American History Perspectives
The Harlem Renaissance (1918-1935)
In the article below, cultural historian Otis Alexander describes the Harlem Renaissance, the early 20th Century outpouring of literature, art,...
Unit 29: Writings from Parchman Prison: Stories Seldom Told
Mississippi State Penitentiary, or Parchman Prison, has long influenced the Mississippi cultural landscape, functioning as a literary setting in many...
How the Dr. Martin Luther King Birthday Became a Hawaii State Holiday
In January 2025, Daphne Barbee-Wooten, a Hawaii historian and social activist attorney wrote the article below describing the campaign to...
Sea Isle City, New Jersey, The Niagara Movement, and the Early 20th Century Struggle for Racial Justice
In the article below New Jersey historian Dr. Joseph A. LaRosa allows us a glimpse into the rarely discussed last...
Charles Frederick Page, Inventor of the Bi-Ballooned Flyable Airship, 1903
The story of Orville and Wilbur Wright and their first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, is...
Harmony In Transition: The Symbiotic Evolution of Gospel Music
The article below, written for BlackPast.org by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., describes the role of gospel music in...
Taylor Electric Company (1922- )
In the article below historian Kathleen Thompson describes Taylor Electric Company, founded in 1922 and has the distinction of being...
Blaxploitation Reexamined: One Critic’s Reinterpretation
In the article below University of Washington School of Public Health Professor Clarence Spigner challenges us to take a more...
The Evolution of Slavery in Virginia, 1619 to 1661
As you will see below, historians agree that the first twenty Africans landed in Virginia in 1619. What is in...
