Howard University — Bunk History

Vice President Harris at the Freedman’s Bank Forum in Washington on Oct. 4.

The Freedman’s Bank Forum Obscures the Bank’s Real History

The bank’s history highlights flaws in using public-private partnerships to address racial inequality.

by Justene Hill Edwards via Made By History on October 27, 2022

Students in classroom

Which is Better: School Integration or Separate, Black-Controlled Schools?

Historical perspective on school integration.

by Zoë Burkholder via OUPblog on August 11, 2021

James Baldwin.

The Vow James Baldwin Made to Young Civil Rights Activists

How James Baldwin confronted America's most exceptional lie.

by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. via Literary Hub on July 28, 2020

Howard University librarian Dorothy Porter with a student in the 1950s.

Cataloging Black Knowledge

How Dorothy Porter assembled and organized a premier Africana research collection.

by Zita Cristina Nunes via Perspectives on History on November 20, 2018

The GOP’s Long History With Black Colleges

Could President Trump actually win over the leaders of historically black colleges and universities?

by Leah Wright Rigueur, Theodore R. Johnson III via Politico Magazine on February 27, 2017

Black Archives Look to Preservation Amid Growing US History Bans

Matter-of-fact accounting of the legal mechanism of slavery provides insight into American history and the country’s fraught present.

by Adria R. Walker via The Guardian on January 15, 2024

Shirley Horn in a publicity shot, 1960.

How to Take It Slow

Following the rhythm of Shirley Horn.

by Lauren Du Graf via Oxford American on December 5, 2023

Alcorn State University's Origional Golden Girls.

Sass And Shimmer: The Dazzling History Of Black Majorettes And Dance Lines

Beginning in the 1960s, young Black majorettes and dance troupes created a fascinating culture. This is the story of how they did it.

by Alecia Taylor, Brooklyn White via Essence on October 10, 2022

African-American man holding a medical bag, posing behind horse-drawn carriage.

Doctors Without Borders

On the Black doctors who received their medical degrees and a new sort of freedom in Europe.

by Deirdre Mask via Lapham’s Quarterly on April 7, 2022

The Secret Papers of Lee Atwater, Who Invented the Scurrilous Tactics That Trump Normalized

An infamous Republican political operative’s unpublished memoir shows how the Party came to embrace lies, racial fearmongering, and winning at any cost.

by Jane Mayer via The New Yorker on May 6, 2021

The US Suffragette Movement Tried to Leave Out Black Women. They Showed Up Anyway

Racism and sexism were bound together in the fight to vote – and Black women made it clear they would never cede the question of their voting rights to others.

by Martha S. Jones via The Guardian on July 7, 2020

Black doctors.

The 1910 Report That Disadvantaged Minority Doctors

A century ago, the Flexner Report led to the closure of 75% of U.S. medical schools. It still explains a lot about today’s unequal access to healthcare.

by Jessie Wright-Mendoza, Lynne E. Miller, Richard M. Weiss via JSTOR Daily on May 3, 2019

How A Psychologist’s Work on Race Identity Helped Overturn School Segregation

Mamie Phipps Clark came up with the oft-cited “doll test” and provided expert testimony in Brown v. Board of Education.

by Leila McNeill via Smithsonian on October 26, 2017

brought to you by

© Bunk History