For someone who writes fantasy I do a lot of historical research to get the history parts right so I know what history I’m bending as I add in magic. Because history is interconnected, I have read quite a few history books to get the full picture of a particular slice of time.
The following are just a few books that crossed my path over the years taking me into some interested rabbit holes. If you’re looking to dive into Black history, here are few that make great starting points. I hope you are inspired to explore other books and references. After all Black history is a year-around affairs, we just give it some extra shine once a year.
Evergreen Recommendations
The Black Book edited by Toni Morrison and Middleton Harris is a collection of documents that present anything from photographs to obituaries to sheet music without additional commentary as it showcases Black life. cannot be missed. History of the legendary The Defender shows the power of the press. W.E.B. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America will show you how history is a circle with passages I found relevant all these years later. Black AF History is a tour de force that distill major historical topics in a conversational but no less informational manner.
American Revolution
It’s the 250th anniversary of Independence, so it’s a good time to look back on how complex that idea is – and still continues to be. Seeing the reasons why Black folk chose sides during the war in Black Patriots and Loyalists. Learn about notable and lesser known people of the era in Answer the Cry for Freedom. And see how African Founders shaped the US.
Black History Leads to Philly
My book, The Conductors ended up being set in Philadelphia because most of my research was bringing me there one way or another. The Philadelphia Negro is classic study of the city by W.E.B. Du Bois. Tasting Freedom highlights Octavius Catto a prominent activist who was killed in election day riot in 1871. William Dorsey’s Philadelphia and Ours traces William Dorsey who collection of scrapbooks contained much more history than you think.
The Black Elite
If HBO’s Gilded Age got you hankering for more tales of the Black elite I suggest, checking out Leading the Race, The Original Black Elite, and Black Fortunes for tales of people gained fortune and influence how they used it.
WW1 & WW2
Take a look into the role of Black soldiers during the World Wars, in Howard University in the World Wars, The Harlem Hellfighters, and Forgotten.
Art & Leisure
No matter the year, art and leisure was never absent. Head down Black Broadway in Washington DC, check out BLK Art and Black Music. See the Reflections in Black, and venture out the African American Leisure Destination in Washington DC, and learn more about the Negro Baseball Leagues
Food
Food History tells us everything we need to know about people from recipes, traditions, to cookbooks. Begin your journey with Hog to Hominy, The Taste of Country Cooking and The Jemina Code.
Writers
Where would be without the writers? Ida B. Wells, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Phliss Wheatley, are all names you’re aware of but do you know about the moments in lives that shaped their writing?
Librarians
From history to arts librarians are the main reason we have the resources we have today. Regina Andrews, Dorthy Porter Wesley, and Arturo Schomburg shaped what we know of history more than we think.
Biographies
Sometimes the best way to learn about history is studying the lives of those who lived it, for you get their stories in the context of work events. While I read many, I wanted to highlighted the biographies and memoir of Effa Manley, Katherine Durham, and Janet Bragg.
First Hand Accounts
The best way to learn history is get the primary sources. The following are published diaries and writings that tell the history in writer’s own words. Notes from a Colored Girl, The Underground Railroad Records, A Hairdresser’s Experience in High Life.
Graphic Novels
Nonfiction graphic novels are way to bring history to life in ways that text can’t always do. Edmonia Lewis and Bessie Stringfield get the light shined on them. And John Lewis recounts his past in the Civil Rights Movement in March.
Select Chapters In History
These book have a few chapters dedicated to Black innovators in the 20th century. Swing Shift highlights all girl jazz bands of the 1940s like the International Sweethearts and the Darling of Rhythms. The Nicest Kids in Town puts the spotlight on Black DJ Georgie Woods. The Secret History of Home Economics mentions how Black women refined their place in the kitchen despite the usual setbacks.
Black Europeans
Don’t let the movies fool you, Black folk have been in Europe for a while, and this just a sample about some rather interesting lives whether it’s the Black Count or Monsieur de Saint-George or African Europeans.
Subscribe
Thank you for subscribing!
Nicole Glover is a fantasy writer and the author the Murder and Magic series. Her most recent book is THE STARSEEKERS.
Nicole Glover 