We are pleased to announce that AFTERLIVES OF THE PLANTATION by Jarvis McInnis is the Co-winner of the 2026 S-USIH Annual Book Prize from the Society for U.S. Intellectual History. buff.ly/VvlhsO9 #BlackHistory #BlackAmerica #History #ReadUP @susih.bsky.social

What does freedom mean beyond legal rights? As we mark #USA250, Justin Leroy examines how nineteenth-century Black thinkers argued that freedom also required economic security, independence, and protection from exploitation. buff.ly/f3Qr6xO #Freedom250 #BlackHistory #NineteenthCentury

Justin Leroy on The Lowest Freedom - Columbia University Press Blog

Justin Leroy discusses how nineteenth-century Black thinkers challenged narrow definitions of freedom and argued that economic justice was essential to emancipation.

buff.ly

The exhibition is extraordinary, but don't forget to stop by the Schomburg gift shop and pick up a copy of "Black Studies on 135th Street: The Founding and Future of the Schomburg Collection," edited by Barrye Brown, @lehelton.bsky.social, and Vanessa K. Valdes

COVER STORY: The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture opened “To Uncover and Reveal to the World: Arturo Schomburg’s Library,” a new exhibition highlighting Schomburg's book collection. Read more here: https://bit.ly/4wpXtm8

Closing Soon! The Schomburg Center’s exhibition 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity is open through June 30, 2026. 100 celebrates the story of the Center’s collections, which today number over 11 million objects… It’s Free, I highly recommend it. www.nypl.org/events/exhib...

New York fam, Saturday I'll be at the iconic Schomburg Center in conversation with C Riley Snorton, a scholar who I admire so much. Join us at 12:30pm for a Prideteenth conversation & Q&A. Can't wait to see you all and celebrate the paperback release of Bloom! RSVP at raquelwillis.com/bloom

"This brilliant and often moving book models a revelatory methodology for talking about the work of Black archive-building." SCATTERED & FUGITIVE THINGS, by Laura Helton reviewed in the *African American Review.* bit.ly/43hcwkS @lehelton.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social

I am late to this but it solves a problem I was having in my issues in public history MA seminar and it’s going on the syllabus! Thanks @lehelton.bsky.social!!

NEW today in the New York Times: In the face of unprecedented authoritarian attacks, the AAUP is building a powerful and militant resistance movement in defense of American higher education, the freedom to learn, and our democracy. Join Us!

A Professor Union Grows Fast as It Ramps Up Its Fight Against Trump

nytimes.com

Look what my beloved friend (and yes, series editor and author) sent me!! Happiest of pub days to Vanessa K. Valdés, @lehelton.bsky.social, and Barrye Brown!

“The homes of Schomburg, Dorsey, and other collectors were important sites of Black intellectual culture: salon-like spaces for the bookish crowd. Until now, however, it has been hard to picture them.” How Arturo Schomburg built a library and made history. lithub.com/in-the-parlo...

In the Parlors of Black Bibliophiles: How Arturo Schomburg Built a Library and Made History

They were “Damned Old Fools on Books.” That’s what the Philadelphia bibliophile William Carl Bolivar told Arturo Schomburg, his younger counterpart in New York, as the two men exchanged book lists,…

lithub.com

Dawn Staley. That’s it. That’s the post.

You busy April 9-10? There's going to be an amazing conference at Rutgers celebrating the (beta) rollout of the Black Bibliography Project database. Here's the agenda: globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/sites/defaul... Registration can be found here: globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/event/networ...

Our research at @aaslh.org suggests that among the 21k+ public history organizations (history museums, historical societies, historic sites) in the US: - 2/3 are private nonprofits, 1/3 govt - Among nonprofits, 80% have less than $200k in annual revenue (and thus no paid, full-time staff)

Hannah Alpert-Abrams@halperta.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I just read Michelle Caswell and Bergis Jules' on funding for community archives, and you should too. Their argument: we need a strategy for large-scale private philanthropy to sustain community archives and ensure the survival of the stories they tell. medium.com/community-ar...

I just read Michelle Caswell and Bergis Jules' on funding for community archives, and you should too. Their argument: we need a strategy for large-scale private philanthropy to sustain community archives and ensure the survival of the stories they tell. medium.com/community-ar...

If Federal Museums Aren’t Allowed to Tell the Truth About the Past, it’sTime to Start Supporting…

By Michelle Caswell and Bergis Jules

medium.com

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

And we continue to celebrate #DouglassDay with our global transcribe-a-thon to make Black history open for all! Transcribe the Colored Conventions www.zooniverse.org/projects/dou...

Transcribe 2026 | Zooniverse - People-powered research

The Colored Conventions Movement fought to ensure all rights for all. You can help tell this history.

zooniverse.org

Sherrilyn Ifill@sifill.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Yes it’s Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass who was born in 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He escaped from slavery & rose to become the most eloquent and forceful voice for the abolition of slavery & for Black voting rights in the U.S.

THIRD PRINTING ALERT: This is my first book and @wehere.bsky.social's first book. The response has been overwhelming (two small printing selling out in a matter of days), but also has meant a bit of lead time in-between. If you've read and enjoyed, please share this out so more folks can explore!

we here®️@wehere.bsky.social · 6mo ago

now available — the house archives built & other thoughts on black archival possibilities by @dorothyjberry.bsky.social (3rd printing) www.weherepress.org

Philadelphia sues Trump admin over removal of slavery exhibit at former George Washington residence https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/01/philadelphia-slavery-trump-administration-criticism-george-washington-federal-government/

Philly sues Trump admin over removal of slavery exhibit

The exhibit included the names and other biographical details about the nine people enslaved by the Washingtons at the presidential mansion.

spotlightpa.org

Forthcoming from @yalepress.bsky.social in April 2026: "Black Studies on 135th Street---The Founding and Future of the Schomburg Collection" Edited by Barrye Brown, @lehelton.bsky.social and Vanessa K. Valdes yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Black Studies on 135th Street

A centennial celebration of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and its vital role in the development of Black Studies In 1926, the Afro–Pu...

yalebooks.yale.edu

I'll say again: some Americans have been trying to silence this history from the very beginning. Yet it's also true that—while Washington was still alive and every time after—other Americans criticized him and reminded the public of his legacy of slavery. We've been arguing over this for 250 years.

Philadelphia Inquirer@inquirer.com · 7mo ago

Over the weekend, you could support a local indie bookstore by ordering a book online, if there’s one you’ve been thinking about picking up.

15 Must-Visit Minneapolis Bookstores

Whatever you're looking for, chances Minneapolis has a bookstore that will suit you. Check out our top picks for local independent bookstores in the city.

minneapolis.org

Erica Armstrong Dunbar's Never Caught about Ona Judge needs to be made into a biopic. The Washingtons pursued Oney, who self emancipated, as a fugitive until they died. Hercules Posey, the cook, also self emancipated. He is why we were so upset about that children's book 10 years ago.

Here's one of the panels that Trump just removed from the President's House site in Philadelphia. (I took this picture of it last March. A couple of weeks later I led a walking tour that included the site.) Does this information "disparage" the United States?

Signs about the history of slavery in the U.S. and the 9 people George Washington enslaved are being removed right now at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, across from Independence Hall, months after the Trump administration threatend to do so. How far we have not come in 250 years.

Join us on Thursday 22 January at 11am for an in person, guided tour of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture's centennial exhibition, 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity. Registration is required and limited to 20 participants - link in bio 🔗 #BibWeek26