Nine books to read for Black History Month [reading list]

The month of February has been
Thomas Jefferson received a letter with strange markings on it on 3 October 1807, which were later determined to be Arabic script from enslaved Africans. This book expands our understanding of African American history as well as the history of religion in America.Exposing Slavery: Photography, Human Bondage, and the Birth of Modern Visual Politics in America by Matthew Fox-AmatoThe emergence of photography in America inaugurated a new era of visual politics for a country divided by slavery. A variety of actors utilized this new technology to push their vision of a future.Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America by W.Caleb McDaniel
Henrietta Wood was born into slavery and then legally freed in Cincinnati in 1848, only to be later abducted and sold back into slavery five years later. She would remain enslaved until after the Civil War. After regaining her freedom, she sued her kidnapper and eventually won her case and reparations for damages. Madness in the City of Magnificent Intentions: A History of Race and Mental Illness in the Nation’s Capital by Martin Summers
From its founding in 1855, St. Elizabeths Hospital was the country’s main center to care for and treat the mentally ill. The hospital was also one of the first to accept black patients, and the author examines the history of the development of modern psychiatry and its intersection with race at this unique institution. Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction by Allen C. Guelzo
In this account by an eminent scholar of the period, Reconstruction is expanded to include the American West as well as the South. Guelzo also examines developments in philosophy, literature, law, and economy that parallel those in the political realm. Slavery and Class in the American South: A Generation of Slave Narrative Testimony, 1840-1865 by William Andrews
Among enslaved African Americans, some experienced degrees of relative freedom in comparison to others. This book examines these social strata through the literary genre of the slave narrative. Promises to Keep: African Americans and the Constitutional Order, 1776 to the Present, Second Edition by Donald G. Nieman
This groundbreaking work argues that conflict over the place of African Americans in US society has shaped the Constitution, law, and our understanding of citizenship and rights. The second edition incorporates insights from the last 30 years, including the War on Drugs and the Black Lives Matter movement.

 

It is impossible to fully grasp American history without black history. You can explore more materials from Oxford related to Black History Month here.

Featured image credit: “The African American History Monument, completed in 2001 on the state capitol grounds in Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina” by Carol M. Highsmith. Public Domain via The Library of Congress.

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