Picturing Black History

Photographs and stories that changed the world

A collaboration of     and    

A Tough Road Uphill

“Buffalo Soldiers”—The 92nd Infantry Division—in Italy, 1944-45

Workers of the World

Black Communists Fought for Jobs and Safety in 1930 Washington, D.C.

At War with Memory

How race has shaped our memory of the Civil War and Emancipation

Student Activism and the Rise of Black Studies

The struggle of university students to build Black Studies on campus, in their communities, and throughout the nation.

Wade in the Water

The Fight to Desegregate Savannah Beach

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Historic Photos, Fresh Stories

January 1922: Soccer player Jack Leslie from Plymouth Argyle FC.

The hidden story of the English national team’s first Black footballer.

Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, the National Association of Colored Women, and the foundations of Black women’s struggles today.

Enslaved refugees sought freedom in Union contraband camps during the American Civil War.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. opposed racism, imperialism, and capitalist inequity at home and around the world.

The remarkable story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a forgotten founder of rock and roll.

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About Picturing Black History

Our Mission

The editorial team at Picturing Black History recognizes the importance of Black history as a subject of academic knowledge and a source of African diaspora identities. We embrace the power of images to capture stories of oppression and resistance, perseverance and resilience, freedom dreams, imagination, and joy within the United States and around the globe.

Picturing Black History emerged in the wake of national and international Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers in 2020. We recognize that Black Lives Matter is a contemporary outgrowth of a long history of Black racial protest in the United States. Picturing Black History is our collaborative effort to contribute to an ongoing public dialogue on the significance of Black history and Black life in the United States and throughout the globe.