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Category: African American History

three women, one girl, and one man all Black, sitting in chairs waiting

A “Reliable Source” for the Assurance of Adequate Accommodations

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

In June 2017 the Washington Post featured a story about The Negro Motorist Green Book published from the mid 1930’s until the late 1960‘s and used by African American travelers in the United States. I had heard about them and figured we had them, which we do (New York Public Library has digitized a number …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

A Pioneering Science Educator

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

Today’s post was written by Denise Dempsey a Science Reference Librarian who has previously written about the women featured in the motion picture “Hidden Figures” and the post “A Family of Pharmacists”. Among the photographs in the Picture This blog post, Portraits of Nineteenth Century African American Women Activists Newly Available Online, is one of …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

James Johnston speaking about Yarrow Mamout on April 6

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

Curious about a portrait of “Old Yarrow” by James Alexander Simpson that hangs in the Peabody Room of Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown public library, James J. Johnston a journalist and attorney decided he wanted to know more and eventually ended up writing a book From Slave Ship to Harvard. The portrait “Old Yarrow” was of Yarrow …

the buildings shows signs for a soda fountain, Ray's Letter and Printing, and a show shine; three men are talking at the steps of the building

Tiny but Mighty: Mann’s 1904 Afro-American Business Directory

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

Business Reference is often asked for information about older or defunct businesses and finding any information can be challenging. But it is even harder to research businesses that were owned and operated by African Americans. While some business directory publishers may have denoted those businesses in some way, that wasn’t always the case. Recently I …

Photograph of young African American students gardening at a rural school.

George Washington Carver and Nature Study

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Today’s post is guest authored by Michelle Cadoree Bradley, a science reference specialist in the Science, Technology, and Business Division of the Library of Congress. She is also the author of the blog post, “Stumbled Upon in the Stacks, or the Chimp in my Office.” …a very large part of the child’s education must be …

map of the United States color coded to show where blacks live in the United States; most of the US is in yellow but many states are in blue as well as brown, black, and red were either part of the Union or Confederacy

Du Bois in Paris – Exposition Universelle, 1900

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

There were a number of medals awarded, including two Grand Prix - one for the collection as a whole, and another to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. Gold Medals were award to the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Howard University, T. J. Calloway as the compiler, W. E. B. Du Bois. Silver Medals were awarded to Fisk University, Agricultural and Mechanical College, Berea College, Atlanta University, and Booker T. Washington. Bronze Medals were awarded to Roger Williams, Central Tennessee College, Atlanta University, and Pine Bluff Normal and Industrial School. Lastly, two Honorable Mentions were given to Haines Normal and Industrial Institute and Claflin University.