African American History and Culture: Home

Jackie Robinson heroically broke the color barrier in 1947. But how--and, in practice, when--did the integration of the sport actually occur? Bill Madden shows that baseball's famous "black experiment" did not truly succeed until the coming of age of Willie Mays and the emergence of some star players

This new resource provides comprehensive coverage of the many events that define the framework of African American history, including social, cultural, and political movements, and the struggles to gain freedom, equality and civil rights. Just as the history of African Americans has been dominated by struggles for freedom and equal rights, articles in Great Events from History: African American History emphasize key events in the study of slavery, the abolitionist movement, civil rights, discrimination, voting rights, and Supreme Court decisions. Other events focus on arts and entertainment, Black Nationalism, crime and punishment, economic issues, education, military history, politics & government, religion, riots and civil disturbances and women's issues

Provides an account of the march for African American voting rights led by Dr. Martin Luther King in January 1965.

The astonishing untold history of America's first black millionaires - former slaves who endured incredible challenges to amass and maintain their wealth for a century, from the Jacksonian period to the Roaring Twenties - self-made entrepreneurs whose unknown success mirrored that of American business heroes such as Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, and Thomas Edison. Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of smart, tenacious, and daring men and women broke new ground to attain the highest levels of financial success.

Offers archival information about the Black Power movement from 1967 to 1975 based on the Swedish film of the same name. Profiles various participants in the movement including Angela Davis and Stokely Carmichael.

A collection of inspirational stories of African-American men and women who broke racial barriers and became pioneers in aviation.

Tells the story of America's first black paratroopers during World War II.

Investigates the lives and tennis careers of Venus and Serena Williams and argues that though they and their visibility have made a dent in the view that tennis is a white person's sport, the "revolution" is not yet over. Argues that while players are more diverse than ever, the umpires, the person sitting in the high chair of authority on the side of the court, the referee, the director, the officials--all are still majority white, and black people are not represented enough in these roles.

Presents the...history of black America: the path from slavery to freedom; the struggle to define and realize that freedom during Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement; and the swell of major social, political, and economic changes since 1968.

A five-volume, alphabetically-arranged set that explores significant events, major persons, organizations, and political and social movements in African-American history from 1896 to the twenty-first-century.

Discusses how in the 1950s, [African American] women made critical contributions to NASA by performing calculations that made it possible for the nation's astronauts to fly into space and return safely to Earth

For African American women, the fight for the right to vote was only one battle. An eye-opening book that tells the important, overlooked story of Black women as a force in the suffrage movement--when fellow suffragists did not accept them as equal partners in the struggle.

Describes the lives of African Americans during the Jim Crow years, a period of legal segregation and discrimination from the 1890s through the 1950s, including photographs and interviews with African Americans who were young during this time and other primary resources.

Traces the events surrounding the attempt to integrate an Arkansas high school in 1957, describing the nine African-American teenagers involved, and discussing the 1955 Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation to be unconstitutional.

Originally serialized on the hugely popular website Boing Boing, The Hip Hop Family Tree is an encyclopedic comics history of the formative years of hip hop capturing the vivid personalities and magnetic performances of old-school pioneers and early stars.

Traces the history and development of soul and rhythm and blues music in America, discusses the social, economic, and regional influences, and includes a look at characteristic instruments, sounds, principle artists, and more.

A collection of political writings and testimonials from African-Americans in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.

Profiles approximately fifty significant Africans and individuals of African descent in a variety of fields

69 Volumes available

Presents short biographies of ninety-five black Americans from colonial to contemporary times, highlighting their personal achievements and their resulting contributions to the growth of American society.

Looks at the many artists, photographers, choreographers, musicians, composers, poets, writers, and other creative people who made Harlem such an amazing place in the 1920s and 1930s.

An account of the previously unheralded but pivotal contributions of NASA's African-American women mathematicians to America's space program describes how they were segregated from their white counterparts by Jim Crow laws in spite of their groundbreaking successes.

Contains alphabetically arranged entries that provide biographical information on three hundred African-American men from throughout history who have made notable contributions to the fields of science, education, religion, medicine, art, journalism, business, the military, music, sports, and others.

Biographical essays on over 300 African American women that combine life histories with information on the key people, places, institutions, and events that have had an impact on these women.