From the cover of Published by the Author

Self-Publishing and the Black American Narrative

Bryan Sinche’s Published by the Author explores the resourcefulness of Black writers of the nineteenth century.
The Death of Cleopatra by Edmonia Lewis

Cleopatra’s Nose

Edmonia Lewis, a sculptor of African and Native American descent, gave Cleopatra “white” European features in her 1876 representation of the Egyptian ruler.

Portico’s Part in Telling the Story of Emmett Till

The Emmett Till Memory Project teaches new generations about the tragedy that kickstarted the Civil Rights Movement. Preserving its digital assets is vital.
Thurgood Marshall, 1976

Thurgood Marshall

In a speech marking the bicentennial of the US Constitution, Marshall argued that its framers intentionally inscribed slavery into the American economy.
A collage of jazz albums

How Jazz Albums Visualized a Changing America

In the 1950s, the covers of most jazz records featured abstract designs. By the late 1960s, album aesthetics better reflected the times and the musicians.
The Children's Reading Room at the 135th street Branch of the New York Public Library

Nella Larsen’s Lessons in Library School

Larsen’s novels were influenced by her training in the New York Public Library system, where she faced rigid ideas about the racial classification of knowledge.
Jack Trice with his team.

The Death of Jack Trice

On October 6, 1923, Iowa State tackle Jack Trice lined up for the second half of a college football game. No one’s sure what happened in that third quarter.
A stylized illustration of a jazz trio including a trumpeter, bassist and drummer

The Barrier-Breaking Ozark Club of Great Falls, Montana

The Black-owned club became a Great Falls hotspot, welcoming all to a music-filled social venue for almost thirty years.
Lucretia Newman Coleman

Finding Lucretia Howe Newman Coleman

Once a powerful voice in the Black press, Coleman all but disappeared from the literary landscape of the American Midwest after her death in 1948.
Hand drawn illustration of african woman with pink hair

Going “Black to the Future”

How has Afrofuturism supported the imagining of other worlds in the face of the anthropogenic climate crisis?