African American History Annotated Bibliography
by
● Young Adult and Children’s Books
Young Adult and Children’s Books
Brenner, B. (1978). Wagon wheels. New York: HarperTrophy.
Picture book, lower elementary. The text is historical fiction, but is based on a real African American family who traveled to Kansas in 1878 to create a new home on land available from the Homestead Act. This family’s story is similar to many African Americans who left the South after the Civil War to find better homes in the West. The father and his three children at first settle in Nicodemus, Kansas, an African American community. They build their dugout home and survive the first harsh winter with food provided by the Osage. However, in the spring, the father leaves the three children alone in search for a better place to live. The children stay alone for several months until their father writes that he has a new home. To the children’s credit, they walk 150 miles to find their father.
Davis, B. (1976). Black heroes of the American Revolution. San Diego: Odyssey.
Upper elementary/middle school level. The author calls attention to male African Americans who served on the patriot side during the seven-year American Revolution. Their contributions are often unknown because they left no records of their experiences since most were slaves and could neither read nor write. The text provides brief portrayals of African American men who fought as soldiers and sailors or served as spies. It also describes three Black regiments, one from Rhode Island, another from Boston, and a third from Haiti. More indepth portrayals are given of James Forten, a war prisoner who later became an abolitionist and one of Philadelphia’s wealthiest men and Crispus Attucks, the first martyr of the American Revolution who died during the Boston Massacre. Most African American slaves volunteered to serve without the promise of gaining freedom; however, thousands became free because of their military service.
Dennis, D. (1984). Black history for beginners. New York: Writers and Readers.
Upper elementary level. Through brief passages and sketches, the author overviews Black African and African American history beginning with early explorers, slavery, the colonies, the Quakers, the American Revolution, revolts for freedom and the Underground Railroad, laws and court cases regarding slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the migration of African Americans north and west, World War I, the Harlem Renaissance, Black Nationalism movement, labor union, World War II, and the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. The text concludes with the Civil Rights movement actions (boycotts, sit-ins, freedom rides, and mass marches).
Hoobler, D. & Hoobler, T. (1995). The African American family album. New York: Oxford University.
Middle School level and adult resource. The authors review different chronological periods in African American history from life in Africa, to the middle passage, slavery, life after slavery in the South and North, the importance of families, religion, and schools in improving life for African Americans during the early 20th century, and concluding with the civil rights movement and opportunities in sports, music, films, writing, and publishing for African Americans during the late 20th century. For each section, the authors provide an overview of important people and events, then include quotations from African Americans who lived during these periods and described their personal perspectives. The racism African Americans experienced from the time they were brought as slaves to the United States through the present is a constant theme throughout the text. The quotations reflect the impact of racism on individuals and families as well as their efforts to counteract racism.
Hughes, L., Meltzer, M. & Lincoln, C. E. (1990). African American history: Four centuries of Black life. New York: Scholastic.
Middle school level and adult resource. The text provides a brief overview of African American history divided into different eras and topics. It begins with African heritage (prehistory) until the culture’s disruption through the transcontinental slave trade in the 1800s. A discussion of slavery in the Americas is included from 1619 through 1865 and the lives of free Blacks are described during the 17th and 18th centuries. The authors also explain resistance to slavery; life after slavery during Reconstruction (1865-1900); different perspectives on the role of African Americans in American society during world wars and the Great Depression (1900-1940); the struggle for freedom through the law and collective action (1940-1980); and African Americans becoming involved in politics, arts, business during the 1970s-1990s.
Kramer, B. (2003). Mahalia Jackson: The voice of gospel and civil rights. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow.
Upper elementary/middle school level. This biography of Mahalia Jackson illustrates the importance of music in her life from childhood on. Growing up in poverty in segregated New Orleans, Jackson sang in the Baptist church choir, but listened to the Pentecostal Church music and blues and jazz which influenced her singing throughout her life. She focused on singing gospel music, and made records, toured nationally and internationally, performed for Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, and won awards for her music. When Jackson met Martin Luther King, Jr., she became involved in the civil rights movement, often singing for events or to raise money. Because of her own experiences with racism in racially segregated schools and trains, the refusal of service in hotels and restaurants, and the struggle to purchase a house, Jackson understood the importance of racial equality. She believed her music was an avenue to diminish hate and fear between Whites and Blacks.
Lasky, K. (2003). A voice of her own: The story of Phillis Wheatley, slave poet. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
Picture book, elementary level. The text portrays the life of Phillis Wheatley from her capture on the west coast of Africa in 1761 and her travel to Boston on a slave ship until her freedom in 1774. Although it was not done in the North, Phillis’ owner, Susannah Wheatley, taught Phillis to read and write. Phillis’s success in reading the Bible led to her study of other subjects, a contrast to the very limited education for most White colonial girls and women. The text describes experiences and events which prompted Phillis to write poetry about them and includes excerpts of the poems. Although Phillis remained Mrs. Wheatley’s slave until after Mrs. Wheatley’s death, she supported Phillis’ writing. She took Phillis to people’s homes to read her poems and sent her to England to get her poems published after all the Boston printers refused to publish the poetry of an African American. The author emphasizes slavery’s dehumanization through enforcing silence and the importance of Phillis Wheatley’s voice in becoming free.
Lyons, K. S. (2012). Ellen’s broom. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Picture book, elementary level. The text deals with the time period following the end of slavery when African Americans could legally marry. During slavery, African American slaves were only allowed to “jump the broom” as a symbol of marriage, and families could still be sold away from each other at the whim of the “master.” The young girl narrator describes her family’s travel to a court house so her parents could have their marriage legally documented, which is commemorated with a marriage certificate. Even though her parents view the broom as a remnant from slavery, their daughter’s interest in the importance of the broom appears to help them embrace this tradition during slavery as well as their new legal rights. The author’s note explains the “1866 Cohabitation List of Henry County, Virginia,” which inspired the book.
McGill, A. (1999). Molly Bannaky. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
The author provides a brief description of Benjamin Banneker’s grandmother, Molly Walsh Bannaky, who came to the United States as an indentured servant in 1683. After completing the required seven years of labor for a Maryland farmer, she was freed and staked out her own land, unheard of for women at that time. She bought an African slave, whom she later married, to help her farm. Together, they made the farm prosper and had four daughters, including Benjamin Banneker’s mother. Molly taught Benjamin to read and write, shared the family history, and with her own example of stepping outside traditional gender and racial boundaries, provided the foundation for Benjamin’s later success as a scientist and mathematician. Benjamin Banneker illustrated that African Americans were not intellectually inferior.
Monceaux, M. & Katcher, R. (1999). My heroes, my people: African Americans and Native Americans in the West. New York: Frances Foster Books.
Picture book, upper elementary level. Monceaux also illustrated the text with drawings of African Americans and Native Americans who played important or minor roles in the history of the “West,” despite racism and discrimination. He described African Americans who were fur traders, cowboys, criminals, lawmen, stagecoach drivers, and buffalo soldiers and some of the ways they were unequal to European Americans in similar positions. Only a few African American women were depicted, but these women spent their lives helping others find more opportunities in the West. Several Native leaders were portrayed who were involved in conflicts with the U.S. Government over Native people’s land.
Myers, W. D. (1991). Now is your time! The African-American struggle for freedom. New York: HarperTrophy.
Middle school level and adult resource. The author intersperses general descriptions of historical eras with stories of individuals. He begins with a brief review of the beginning of the slave trade as European Americans recognized the need for cheap labor in the Americas. The author includes a story of one African brought to the U.S. as a slave, kept in slavery for 40 years, then was able to return to Africa. The development of the plantation society is described which necessitated a large labor force to raise one main crop for income and complete other work needed for life on a large estate. One chapter describes the inhumane strategies slave owners used to exercise complete control over slaves and make them dependent on their “masters,” as well as slave resistance to slavery. The author also explores the contradictions in the ideals of the American Revolution and slavery, provides a profile of one free Black (James Forten) living during the Revolutionary era, the place of slavery in the Constitution, different slave rebellions, and the struggle of one couple to escape from slavery. As a way to understand the Civil War, the author describes laws regarding slavery, the growing abolitionist movement, the secession of southern states from the Union, and significant activities of the Civil War itself. Following the Civil War, African Americans still had to struggle for survival and move toward greater equality. Court cases and the accomplishments of African American individuals bring readers up to the final chapter, which focuses on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Nelson, K. (2011). Heart and soul: The story of America and African Americans. New York: Balzer & Bray.
Upper elementary level. The author also illustrated the text with beautiful paintings. He narrated the story of African Americans in the U.S. through the words and family photos of an elder grandmother whose family was affected by major historical events. Readers are reminded that African Americans have been part of U.S. history from the colonial period to the recent vote for the first African American president. They participated in the Revolutionary War, were brought to the U.S. as slaves, participated in the abolitionist movement, fought in the Civil War, endured Reconstruction, moved west to enjoy some freedom in the 1860s, moved north for better jobs during World War I, survived the Great Depression, fought in segregated units in World War II, and struggled to overturn Jim Crow laws and racial segregation.
Pelz, R. (1990). Black heroes of the wild West. Seattle, WA: Open Hand.
Upper elementary level. Each chapter includes a short biography of an African American, including Estevan (explorer), Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable (founded Chicago), George Washington Bush (one of Washington state founders), James Beckwourth (guide), Clara Brown (Colorado settler and benefactor), Biddy Mason (obtained freedom from slavery in California and settled and prospered there), Mifflin Gibbs (lawyer and judge), and Mary Fields (Montana pioneer).
Thomas, J. C. (1998). I have heard of a land. New York: Joanna Cotler Books.
Picture book, elementary level. Written in verse, the author describes the possibilities for women and African Americans to obtain land in Oklahoma during the late 19th century. Building on family stories of her African American great-grandparents move to Oklahoma, the author focuses on one African American woman pioneer who plants crops, grows all the food she eats, sleeps in a sod hut, and builds a log cabin with the help of her neighbors. The Oklahoma Territory was one of the few places in the U.S. where a woman could own land in her own name. The text celebrates the possibilities for a better life in Oklahoma for women and African Americans.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (1995, February). Buffalo soldiers. Cobblestone, 16.
Elementary level. This issue contains articles which explain who Buffalo soldiers are (name Native people gave to African American soldiers serving in the West during the end of the 19th century who exemplified the courage and importance of the buffalo), the discrimination and prejudice these soldiers experienced, some of their accomplishments, honors they have received, and programs developed to teach children and youth about this aspect of U.S. history.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (1996, February). Mary McLeod Bethune. Cobblestone, 17.
Elementary level. Articles focus on Bethune’s childhood, the help she received from other African American women who helped her gain an education, her progress in establishing a school for African American girls which later became Bethune-Cookman College, her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, and her efforts to organize African American women to speak on public issues and serve in government through the National Council of Negro Women.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (1997, February). Tuskegee Airmen. Cobblestone, 18.
Elementary level. The opening article explains that Tuskegee Airmen were the first African Americans to serve in the U.S. Army as fighter pilots when the armed forces were still racially segregated. Other articles focus on the first African American women to have a pilot’s license (Bessie Coleman) and a commercial pilot’s license (Willa Brown), one of the first African American men to have a pilot’s license and teach flying (Charles Anderson), the first African American men to graduate from West Point and command the segregated African American flying unit (Benjamin Davis), this unit’s victorious flights during World War II, and African American airmen’s protests of racial segregation in the military resulting in Truman’s order to desegregate it in 1948.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (1998, February). African American education: A proud heritage. Cobblestone, 19.
Elementary level. This issue contains articles describing secret schools which slave children secretly attended; early efforts to provide schools for African Americans in the North and Quaker support for education before 1865 when slavery was abolished; efforts to educate escaped slaves on the Sea Islands off the South Carolina coast; outstanding African American teachers such as Charlotte Forten; Booker T. Washington’s and W. E. B. Du Bois’ different perspectives on proper education for African Americans; the Supreme Court decision which desegregated public schooling; and traditional Black colleges and universities which provided educational opportunities when most higher educational institutions would not admit African American students.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (1999, February). African American pioneers and homesteaders. Cobblestone, 20.
Elementary level. The articles focus on African Americans’ migration west following the Civil War. These African Americans were called “Exodusters” and were motivated to move to claim the 150 acres of free land promised by the Homestead Act of 1862 and the passage of the Black Codes in the South which denied rights to African Americans and kept them poor. Other articles focus on African American leaders who encouraged other African Americans to settle in Kansas, African American women who founded businesses and helped develop communities, the struggles of farming in the West, and the development of Nicodemus, Kansas as the first all-African American town west of the Mississippi.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2000, February). W.E.B. Du Bois 1868-1963. Cobblestone, 21.
Elementary level. Articles concentrate on Du Bois’ early educational experiences which both helped him develop his talents and made him aware of racism as well as his notable accomplishments in earning a doctorate from Harvard, university teaching, researching, and writing on African Americans’s lives; working with the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People); and leading an international effort to allow Africans to govern their own countries. One interesting article details the conflicting views about African Americans’ rights between Du Bois and Booker T. Washington and another includes a timeline of Du Bois’ life.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2001, February). Ida B. Wells-Barnett 1862-1931. Cobblestone, 22.
Elementary level. The issue focuses on Wells’ childhood experiences of being born to slave parents who died from yellow fever from she was 16 years old, her work as a teacher to support her younger sisters and brothers, and her efforts to fight racial discrimination on trains. Several articles describe Wells most notable accomplishments in criticizing racial discrimination and lynchings in the press. Wells-Barnett became well-known for her campaign to eliminate lynchings as an example of racist oppression. Her ability to integrate work, an egalitarian marriage, and motherhood are also described.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2002, February). The NAACP. Cobblestone, 23.
Elementary level. Articles focus on reasons for the rise of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) following constitutional amendments abolishing slavery and prohibiting discrimination against African Americans in voting; the main purpose of the organization (promoting African Americans’ rights as citizens mainly through the courts), and the organization’s publication, The Crisis. The issue also reviews other organizations which fought against discrimination toward African Americans, profiles people involved with the NAACP, youth programs the organization sponsors, and provides a timeline of important events within the organization from its origin in 1909 to the present.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2003, February). The underground railroad and the antislavery movement. Cobblestone, 24.
Elementary level. Articles clarify what the underground railroad was, important terms associated with it; the effects of the fugitive slave laws on escaping slaves and those who assisted them; different groups associated with the antislavery movement, including European American abolitionists and free African Americans; individuals and institutions in Ohio who contributed to the underground railroad; the unique contributions of one Vermont family who not only helped slaves escape, but also hired them and helped them become literate; and the creation and demise of two refugee communities composed of escaped slaves in Canada. The article also previews the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which teaches participants about the underground railroad and contemporary freedom issues. An excellent map depicts different underground railroad escape routes.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2008, April). Get on the bus! On the move for civil rights. Cobblestone, 29.
Elementary level. This issue briefly reviews the racial segregation and discrimination which led to the 1961 freedom rides and an earlier case (1944) in which a woman refused to move from her bus seat, was arrested, and fined. The woman’s case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that racial segregation in interstate transportation was illegal. This ruling was tested by European Americans and African Americans who began a “Journey of Reconciliation” and defied local Jim Crow laws by sitting together on buses in southern states. Although the men were harassed and arrested several times, this action was the precedent for the 1961 freedom ride from Washington DC to New Orleans. The freedom riders were carefully chosen, trained in nonviolent protest, endured beatings and fire bombs, and were arrested and jailed. The violence, especially in Alabama, was captured on the news, which won public support for the movement. An interview with John Lewis, participant in the freedom rides and representative from Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives, is interviewed about his experiences and a timeline of events leading up to and following the freedom rides are included in the issue.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2013, January). A visit to the White House neighborhood. Cobblestone, 34.
Elementary level. The article “If Walls Could Talk” describes some of the slaves and their activities who lived in the slave quarters of the Decatur House, the only private residence in the White House neighborhood of Washington DC. After slavery was abolished in Washington DC in 1862, White and Black domestic workers lived and worked in the slave quarters. The article “Tracing the Neighborhood’s Black History” explains the importance of slaves’ labor in building the capital and how free African Americans helped one another, established their own schools and churches, and worked to abolish slavery. “Protest in the Park” describes the various protests and marches in Lafayette Park across from the White House, including those advocating for civil rights for African Americans.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2013, February). March on Washington. Cobblestone, 34.
Elementary level. The opening article “The Long Struggle” explains the historical context of the March on Washington by summarizing continued racism and racial discrimination against African Americans following the elimination of slavery. Articles also profile leaders of the march, their demands, President Kennedy’s and President Johnson’s responses to their demands, and the significance of the march as a high point of the civil rights movement.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2013, November/December). Plantation life. Cobblestone, 34.
Elementary level. The articles focus on the recreated town of Williamsburg, Virginia as it existed in the 1700s. The articles describe daily life for the different classes of people including the wealthy gentry class, the middling middle class, the working class, and enslaved people. About half of the Williamsburg population in the 1700s was African American, but only a small percentage was free. Readers learn how enslaved people enabled the wealthy people to enjoy their lifestyle, the various tasks of slaves, their daily activities, their food and clothing, and their limited rights and freedom. One article introduces readers to the lives of colonial children, including gentry, middling, lower, and enslaved children.
Chorlian, M. (Ed.). (2014, February). Unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. Cobblestone, 35.
Elementary level. The opening articles summarize the unequal conditions affecting African Americans which precipitated the Civil Rights Movement as well as the main court cases related to the Civil Rights Movement, organizations formed during the Civil Rights Movement, and events of the Civil Rights Movement. The remaining articles profile individuals who had an impact on the movement, but were less well known than Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. The individuals included A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, James Farmer, Wyatt Tee Walker, Charles Hamilton Houston, Anna Pauline “Pauli” Murray, Kenneth Clark, Daisy Bates, Ella Baker, Coretta Scott King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Victoria Gray Adams, Diane Nash, Ralph Abernathy, Whitney M. Young, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, Julian Bond, and John Lewis.
Chorlian, M. (Ed). (2015, February). Road to civil rights. Cobblestone, 36.
Elementary level. The first article summarizes the racial segregation that characterized the South in the United States, which provided the historical context for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The remaining articles describe a timeline of important events of the civil rights movement, including the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka decision which outlawed segregated schools, to Rosa Parks’ arrest leading to the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott in 1955 to the freedom riders of 1961 who advocated for interstate bus travel, to the 1963 march on Washington for jobs and freedom, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed racial segregation and religious, sex, national origins, and racial discrimination.
Corsey, M. (Ed.). (1983, October). The jazz sensation. Cobblestone, 4.
Elementary level. Articles for this issue explain the link of jazz to the drum songs of West Africa; characteristics of jazz; the ragtime music of Scott Joplin and Eubie Blake; the blues music of Bessie Smith; the importance of records and phonographs following World War I in making American jazz popular around the world; and the factors which contributed to New Orleans becoming the “birthplace” of jazz.
Hale, S. E. (Ed.). (1992, February). African American inventors. Cobblestone, 13.
Elementary level. This issue emphasizes the contributions African Americans have made through their inventions. Articles clarify the number of patents (over 1,000) African American women and men inventors held by 1913; Norbert Rillieux’s invention to improve the sugar refining process, Lewis Latimer’s inventions in electric lighting, the inventions of Andrew Beard, Elijah McCoy, and Granville T. Woods in making railroads safer; the early gas mask and traffic light inventions of Garrett Morgan; and the truck refrigeration invention of Fred Jones.
Yoder, C. P. (Ed.). (1991, February). The Harlem renaissance. Cobblestone, 12.
Elementary level. Articles explain the significance of the Harlem Renaissance as the 1920s artistic movement created by African American writers, poets, dancers, singers, actors, composers, and painters in rediscovering African roots and culture as well as finding their place in American society. Readers are introduced to African Americans who supported renaissance writers; Langston Hughes’ struggles to survive while writing stories and innovative poetry; the creation of new bands; the 135th Street Library as the center for promoting writing and art; popular dances during the renaissance, especially the Charleston; an overview of renaissance entertainers (composers, musicians, singers, bandleaders, dancers, and actors); and the creation of the first African American professional basketball team named the New York Renaissance.
Yoder, C. P. (Ed.). (1993, February). The antislavery movement. Cobblestone, 14.
Elementary level. This issue focuses on the injustices of slavery, the continuation of oppression of African Americans today, and people who fought against slavery. Articles describe individuals and groups who opposed slavery, such as Quakers; the formation of antislavery societies, including children’s involvement in junior antislavery societies; freed African American James Forten’s leadership in resisting the movement to return African Americans to Africa; the work of other abolitionist leaders such as Frederick Douglass to inform the public about the horrors of slavery; Native American involvement in slavery as slaves, slave traders, slave owners, and antislavery activists; and the victory of the Amistad Africans in gaining their freedom through the courts.
Yoder, C. P. (Ed.). (1993, May). Duke Ellington: A musical genius. Cobblestone, 14.
Elementary level. This issue explains the roots of jazz in blues and ragtime; the influence of the early New Orleans jazz, its spread to other cities, and individual jazz musicians on Ellington; Ellington’s childhood and his beginnings as a musician; the development of Ellington’s band and their world-wide tours; Ellington’s connection to early and contemporary jazz styles; and honors given to Ellington and his music.
Yoder, C. P. (Ed.). (1994, February). Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Cobblestone, 15.
Elementary level. This issue focuses on the historical events which contributed to King’s leadership in the Civil Rights Movement; King’s early years from childhood through marriage; the progression from Jim Crow laws enforcing racial segregation to laws providing greater opportunities for African Americans; the Civil Rights activities of bus boycotts, sit-ins, freedom rides, marches, voter registration drives, workers’ strikes, and children’s marches; King’s assassination; and the creation of the national holiday to commemorate King’s birthday.
Yoder, C. P. (Ed.). (1994, October). Louis Armstrong and the art of jazz. Cobblestone, 15.
Elementary level. This issue focuses on the development of Louis Armstrong as one of the most famous jazz musicians in the world. Articles describe the difficulties of growing up in poverty in New Orleans and the help he received from others, especially Joe Oliver, in becoming a musician; Armstrong’s development of a unique blend of voice and trumpet in “scat” (singing without words) and improvisation; his tours with his bands in different countries around the world; and the archives of Armstrong’s life overseen by Queens College in New York City.
Bower, P. R. (1988). Harriet Tubman, Apartheid is bad, and other plays for young people. Teaneck, NJ: Author.
Lower elementary level. The author has created plays for young children which incorporate simple language, music, and little scenery and costumes. One play focuses on Harriet Tubman’s efforts to help slaves escape; another concentrates on the life of Frederick Douglass; a third deals with Martin Luther King’s and Rosa Parks’ leadership in the bus boycott; another addresses the protests against racial segregation of schools; a fifth focuses on efforts of Fannie Lou Hamer in winning the right to vote and participate in political activities for African Americans; and the final play dealing with African American history concentrates on the violence directed against African Americans in Howard Beach, New York City.
Stevens & Shea. (1989). Harriet Tubman. Stockton, CA: Author.
Upper elementary and middle school level. This play describes the head injury Tubman incurred while helping a slave escape, her escape from slavery, and her activities as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The play includes parts for 15 actors.
Stevens & Shea. (1990). Martin Luther King, Jr. Stockton, CA: Author.
Upper elementary and middle school level. This play has parts for 15 actors and a crowd. It deals with King’s involvement in the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama; his efforts to obtain voting rights for African Americans; and his support for striking African American sanitation workers at the time of his assassination.