Happy Black History Month! This year, we celebrate 100 years of Black History with two exhibits. Here's a small sampling of what we have available!
Month and the Association for the Study of
African American Life and History (ASALH).
The History of Black History Month
On September 9th, 1915, historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson and his contemporaries—including George Cleveland Hall, William B. Hartgrove, Jesse E. Moorland, and others—founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in Chicago. The Association, now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), aimed to foster the study and preservation of Black history.
Chicago Defender," can be seen in the Krupp Library's front foyer display.
Woodson was the Association's first director. He launched the first “Negro History Week” in 1926, as part of an effort to celebrate Black history and transform how Black people perceived themselves. Over the years, he set themes and provided materials to illustrate the contributions people of African descent had made to history and modern culture. By the late 1960s, Woodson's concept had expanded into what we now know as Black History Month.
In 1976, Gerald Ford became the first President to acknowledge Black History Month during the United States Bicentennial; ten years later, the celebration was officially recognized when Congress passed Public Law 99-244, which declared February to be Black History Month.
This year's theme, "A Century of Black History Commemorations," spotlights the countless contributions of Black people to the history and culture of both the United States and the world as a whole. We've picked a few to showcase in our display—for example, The Chicago Defender, a highly influential Black owned-and-operated newspaper from the early 1900s. Black Pullman porters and entertainers smuggled the paper across the Mason/Dixon line into the South, as white distributors refused to circulate the paper and many groups tried to confiscate it or threatened readers. At its peak, the Defender's readership was estimated at more than 500,000 people per week. It reported events like the Great Migration and publicized the careers of figures like Gwendolyn Brooks and Louis Armstrong. The Defender is still operational today.
Black History at Bryant
A Visit from Maya Angelou
On March 4th, 1996, renowned poet, essayist and activist Maya Angelou was invited to speak at Bryant University as part of the college's Women's History Month programming. She performed to a sold-out crowd. Angelou is known for her series of autobiographies, beginning with her 1969 book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, as well as her poetry. Her reading of her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration makes her one of only four poets to perform an inaugural poem, the most recent of which was Amanda Gorman, who performed her poem "The Hill We Climb" at President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021.
During her visit to Bryant, Angelou encouraged students to go to the library and memorize a few poems, saying: "The most noble cause in the world is the liberation of the mind and spirit—beginning with our own." A selection of Angelou's books, as well as articles from Bryant Business about her visit, can be seen in our back exhibit.
"The most noble cause in the world is the liberation of the mind and spirit—beginning with our own."
On Display
Across two separate exhibits, the Krupp Library has chosen a selection of nonfiction books about Black History and classic and contemporary fiction, poetry and memoir by Black authors. Here are a few titles currently on display!
Non-Fiction:
Located in the Front Foyer Exhibit Case
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis (2016, Haymarket Books).
The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth by Jermaine Fowler (2024, Row House).
Wake: the Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall (2021, Particular Books).
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones (2021, One World).
Afrofuturism Rising: the Literary Prehistory of a Movement by Isiah Lavender III (2019, The Ohio State University Press).
For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food by Klancy Miller (2023, Harvest).
A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars by Hakeem Oluseyi (2023, Delacorte Press).
Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance by Ben Passmore (2025, Pantheon Books).
Hip-Hop is History by Questlove (2024, AUWA Books).
The Black Angels: the Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis by Maria Smilios (2023, G.P. Putnam's Sons).
Fiction, Poetry and Memoir:
Located in the Back Right Exhibit Case
Classic:
A Man of the People: a Novel by Chinua Achebe (1967, Doubleday).
Parable of the Talents: a Novel by Octavia Butler (2016, Seven Stories Press).
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1992, Modern Library).
Their Eyes Were Watching God: a Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1999, HarperCollins).
Beloved: a Novel by Toni Morrison (1987, Alfred A. Knopf).
Contemporary:
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (2023, Pantheon Books).
The Talk by Darrin Bell (2023, Henry Holt and Company).
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020, Riverhead Books).
Let Us Descend: a Novel by Jesmyn Ward (2023, Scribner).
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (2021, Doubleday).
By Maya Angelou:
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986, Random House).
And Still I Rise (1978, Random House).
Even the Stars Look Lonesome (1997, Random House).
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970, Random House).
I Shall Not Be Moved (1990, Random House).
E-Books:
Well Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves: an Anthology by Glory Edim (2018, Ballantine Books).
Black Hair in a White World by Tameka N. Ellington (2023, The Kent State University Press).
Josephine Baker's Cinematic Prism by Terri Simone Francis (2021, Indiana University Press).
HBCU: The Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities by Marybeth Gasman (2024, Johns Hopkins University Press).
Readying the Revolution: African American Theater and Performance Culture from post-World War II to the Black Arts Movement by Jonathan Shandell (2025, University of Michigan).
Additional Resources
"About the 2026 Black History Month," Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)
"Journey of Black History Month," National Museum of African American History & Culture at the Smithsonian
"Remembering the Chicago Defender, Print Edition (1905-2019)," National Museum of African American History & Culture at the Smithsonian
"Black History Month 2026: 28 Days of Discovery and Inspiration," New York Society Library