Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was an orator of Black Nationalism, and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. He advanced a Pan-African philosophy which inspired a global movement, known as Garveyism. This b...

Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey

Reverend Richard A. Morrisey (born 1858) was an African-American biblical scholar, a Doctor of Divinity, and the pastor of a number of churches in the South and in Pennsylvania. In 1915, he published Bible History of the Negro, with the hope of inspi...

Bible History of the Negro

Booker T. Washington’s 1901 autobiography can be read as a redemption story echoing many similar voices of its time. Starting from the humiliation he experienced as a slave, he ponders the meaning of identity in a situation that seeks to dehumanize. He furthers his story by expanding on his difficulties in obtaining an education and the need for change in our minds as well as societal structures.

Up from Slavery: An Autobiography

The Moors in Spain is an overview of the Moorish conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Stanley Edward Lane-Poole (1854 - 1931), the author, was a noted British archaeologist.

The Moors in Spain

First published in 1907, My Life as an Indian is the memoir of James Willard Schultz and tells the story of his first year living with the Pikuni tribe in Montana. It includes accounts of religious customs and ceremonies, hunting, raids, food preparation, child-rearing and more, and is thus of great interest to anthropologists and students of Native American history.

My Life as an Indian: The Story of a Red Woman and a White Man in the Lodges of the Blackfeet

George Granville Monah James (1893-1956) was a Guyanese-American historian and author. His 1954 book Stolen Legacy argues that Greek philosophy and religion originated in ancient Egypt. James contends that Greek philosophy was based on ideas and conc...

Stolen Legacy

Drusilla Dunjee Houston (1876-1941) was a teacher, journalist, and self-taught historian. Inspired by the works of WEB DuBois, Houston undertook a quest to discover African history from an African American perspective. In Wonderful Ethiopians of the ...

Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire

Paul Jennings, a slave of James Madison's, recounts his experiences with the man. He provides insights into his relationship with President Madison, including the kindness he showed him. Jennings lived in the White House and was with President Madison until the day of his death.

A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison

Sidney Mendelssohn (-1917) was a diamond merchant in South Africa who retired in England to devote his leisure to public work, the collection of his library of works on South Africa and the compilation of his famed bibliography based on that collecti...

The Jews of Africa

Metals and How to Weld Them (1954) by T.B. Jefferson and Gorham Woods is a practical manual which describes the structure of various metals used in industry, their mechanical and physical properties, and the processes and procedures necessary for welding them. The non-technical writing style makes it accessible to a broad spectrum of listeners or students.

Metals and How to Weld Them

Rufus L. Perry was an educator and Baptist minister from Brooklyn, New York. He was a member of the African Civilization Society and was a co-founder of the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum. The Cushite is a short work that investigates the history of the ancient peoples.

The Cushite

Harvey Johnson was a Baptist minister form Baltimore, Maryland. In his book The Hamite, he investigates the ancient people of the Near East.

The Hamite

Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) was a diplomat, educator, writer and politician. Born in the West Indies, he migrated to Liberia in 1851. Blyden’s writings on pan-Africanism were influential in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the two countries founded in ...

The Negro in Ancient History

Carter Woodson (1875-1950) was a prominent Black leader and intellectual who raised awareness of the Black historical experience by initiating the first Black History Week, which later became Black History Month. Published in 1921, The History of the...

The History of the Negro Church

Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) was a Welsh explorer and journalist. Famous for his meeting with the missionary and explorer David Livingstone, Stanley searched for the source of the Nile as an agent of King Leopold II of Belgium. In Origin of the N...

Origin of the Negro Race

Benjamin Tucker Tanner (1835-1923) was an editor, historian, and prominent theologian of his time who founded The Christian Recorder, an early African American newspaper. In his 1895 book The Color of Solomon, he contends that King Solomon of the Bib...

The Color of Solomon

John Newton was the master of a slave ship, later becoming a beloved Anglican priest and an ardent abolitionist. His conversion to Christianity began in 1748, and in 1764 he was accepted in the priesthood. Newton collaborated with William Cowper to p...

Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade

Life and Times of Frederick Douglass covers the life of the prominent abolitionist during and after the Civil War. Here, Douglass provides a fuller account of his escape from slavery and the underground railway to freedom. It includes his recollectio...

Life and Times of Frederick Douglass

The Narrative of James Roberts indicates that he was born in 1753 in Maryland in a state of slavery. He accompanied his master in the Revolutionary War and also fought in the War of 1812 under General Jackson. Roberts eventually obtained his freedom and devoted his life to the struggle to end slavery.

The Narrative of James Roberts: A Soldier Under Washington in the Revolutionary War and Jackson in the War of 1812

Benjamin Tucker Tanner (1835 - 1923) was an African American clergyman and editor. He served as a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1886, and founded The Christian Recorder, an important early African American newspaper. In The Ne...

The Negro in Holy Writ

Jesse Max Barber (1878 - 1949), born in Blackstock, South Carolina, to former slave parents, was a journalist, dentist, and civil rights leader. His literary career began in 1903 while attending Virginia Union University in Richmond. In this work, Th...

The Negro of the Earlier World: An Excursion into Negro Ancient History

Henry Highland Garnet was an African American abolitionist whose "Call to Rebellion" speech in 1843 encouraged slaves to rise up against their owners. Garnet’s 1848 address to the Female Benevolent Society of Troy, New York, was published as The Past...

The Past and the Present Condition and the Destiny of the Colored Race

Days of Bondage, the autobiography of Friday Jones (1810-1887), is a slave narrative with a strong theme of overcoming diversity through spiritual growth. The nonlinear narrative consists of a series of episodes, many of which are harrowing in their cruelty. Ultimately, however, Days of Bondage is a moving text and a testament to the power of resilience.

Days of Bondage. Autobiography of Friday Jones. Being a Brief Narrative of His Trials and Tribulations in Slavery

Historical Sketches of the Ancient Negro (1920) by Edward and Josephine sought to correct the image of their African ancestors in the perception of Afro-Americans. The authors explore the ancient history of Kush, Ethiopia, Nubia and other African kin...

Historical Sketches of the Ancient Negro

William Whipper (1837) felt strongly that change could be brought through model behavior and an appeal to human rationality. Non-violence was the answer for this activist. In this letter, he addresses the president arguing that non-resistance is the way to peace in the nation.

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