Bessie Smith poses for a portrait circa 1924.

The Flood Behind Bessie Smith’s “Back-Water Blues”

The Mississippi River flood that Smith allegedly memorialized happened weeks after she'd written and released her song. Where was the real “Back Water”?
(Clockwise from bottom left) Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, Terminator X, S1W and Chuck D of the rap group Public Enemy pose for a portrait in a studio, 1988

How Rap Taught (Some of) the Hip Hop Generation Black History

For members of the Hip Hop generation who came of age during the Black Power era, “reality rap” was an entry into the political power of Black history.
A Black soldier of the 12th Armored Division stands guard over a group of Nazi prisoners captured in the surrounding German forest, April 1945

Prisoners Like Us: German POW and Black American Solidarity

During World War II, almost a half million POWs were interned in the United States, where they forged sympathetic relationships with Black American soldiers.
Robert Smalls, born in Beaufort, SC, April 1839

Using Data to Discover and Explore the Stories of Enslaved People

Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade brings together datasets from multiple sources in a single free website that anyone can use.
Portrait of Margaret Bonds, 1956

Keeping Scores: Unearthing the Works of Black Women Composers

Black women composers have been active in the US since at least the mid-nineteenth century, yet they’re largely omitted from scholarship on women musicians.
Black teachers and children stand facing the camera in a classroom in Mississippi, 1967

The Working-Class Radicalism of Mississippi’s Head Start

The Child Development Group of Mississippi created jobs and fostered the political inclusion of poor African American and white communities in the South.
Photograph: Sojourner Truth, 1860s

The Truth About Isabella Van Wagenen

Sojourner Truth’s entanglement with a dubious cult leader in New York City steadied her steps on the path for women’s rights.
Golfers in Minnesota in the 1940s

Fairness on the Fairway: Public Golf Courses and Civil Rights

Organized movements to bring racial equality to the golf course have been part of the sport since the early 1900s.
Producer John Dolphin's "Dolphin's Of Hollywood" record store on Central Avenue, 1952

The Los Angeles Renaissance

Black composers Bruce Forsythe and Claudius Wilson transcended barriers to create concert and classical music during this West Coast art movement.
Sisters of the Holy Family, New Orleans

The Hidden History of Black Catholic Nuns

The lives and roles of African-descended women who joined predominantly white Catholic convents was deliberately hidden by congregational historians.