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MIT Black History

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Main sources for the MIT Black History Project include the Institute Archives, the MIT Museum, campus publications, and members of the MIT community. Oral history is also a valuable evidentiary tool, supplementing and enriching the store of more traditional historical evidence. Additionally, the project draws material from relevant collections and publications at large.
“Celebrate the truth of the dream with love” by Wisthon Thimé

“Celebrate the truth of the dream with love” by Wisthon Thimé, 2022

Valerie Jarrett- "Robert Robinson Taylor: Building on the Legacy of MIT's First Black Graduate" (2022)

The Dixon Brothers

The Dixon Brothers, 1898

POSTER: MIT & Slavery Course, 2017

POSTER: MIT & Slavery course, 2017

Jones’ Lunch at the Boston campus gymnasium, ca. 1878

Jones’ Lunch at the Boston campus gymnasium, ca. 1878

MIT and the Legacy of Slavery (2018)

Finding Your Roots: Valerie Jarrett and Robert R. Taylor (2014)

Finding Your Roots: Valerie Jarrett and Robert R. Taylor (2014)

Robert R. Taylor in Lincoln Jubilee Album, 1915

Robert R. Taylor in Lincoln Jubilee Album, 1915

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The MIT Black History Project’s mission is to research, identify, and produce scholarly curatorial content on the MIT Black experience. If you have an important item you believe the project should consider for its collection, please start by contacting us on this website.
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The mission of the MIT Black History Project is to research, identify, and produce scholarly curatorial content on the Black experience at MIT since the Institute opened its doors in 1865.

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