African American History

  • Black History in Fiction

    Each February, many readers come to the library to check out the latest titles on Black history. Don’t read history books? No worries! Whether you enjoy historical or literary fiction, thrillers or fantasy, romance or mysteries, here are some recent books that immerse us in the lived experiences of Black Americans throughout our history. By… Continue reading

  • The Negro Motorist Green Book Exhibition: March 19 – June 12, 2022

    The Negro Motorist Green Book exhibition opens this Saturday, March 19, at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. This immersive, multimedia exhibit was curated by Candacy Taylor, former Harvard fellow and celebrated Green Book scholar, for the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service. The Green Book was published between 1936 and 1966 and became the… Continue reading

  • Working it Out: From Emancipation to Economic Independence

    After centuries of receiving no or minuscule compensation (by being hired out) for their labor, formerly enslaved people, at the stroke of a pen, were responsible for their own livelihood. Seamstresses, servants, cooks, carpenters, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and masons could ply their trade. Most, however, of this country’s enslaved workforce had been deployed to cultivate monocrops.… Continue reading

  • Book-It Repertory Theatre’s RETURNING THE BONES: Beyond the Theatre

    Her heart was as big as Texas. That’s why it takes more than twenty voices to relay the story of her life. Aunt BeBe, otherwise known as Dr. Carolyn Beatrice Hammond Montier, was a woman to be reckoned with. Continue reading

  • City Council Reads – Rob Johnson, District 4

    This past November, Seattle swore in a new Mayor and City Councilmember, and we here at ShelfTalk thought this would be a great opportunity to continue our series of posts in which we invited your representatives to share books that have meant a lot to them. This time, we asked them “What book was most influential… Continue reading

  • Where I’m Bound: African Americans and Migration in Art and Life

    It began with a poem! Reading the Langston Hughes poem One-Way Ticket inspired Jacob Lawrence to make a sketch of a train station waiting room filled with travelers, travelers like the ones seeking The Warmth of Other Suns. As a boy who became an artist, he knew about traveling. Lawrence moved from city to city and house… Continue reading

  • Radical Reading for February

    ~posted by Diane I’ve always been proud to have been a college student in the 1970’s when the campuses were hotbeds of protest, hippies, and monumental societal change. Those turbulent and triumphant times written about in recent children’s books allow us to relive those moments with awe. Sometimes children’s books are really best appreciated by… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: African American Films you may have missed

    ~posted by Frank 2014 was another banner year for African American films and filmmakers, capped off by Chris Rock’s hysterical turn as star and director of Top Five and Selma, which has earned a Best Picture nod at this year’s Academy Awards as well as a nearly perfect 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While you’re waiting for these on… Continue reading

  • Civil Rights in the 1940s: When Seattle began to grow up

    The 1940’s were times of change for Seattle, as the world war and social pressures associated with it brought the beginnings of maturity to the city. Seattle’s African American citizens experienced much of this change directly. Populations from the south, and elsewhere in the country, were drawn to better-paying war work in Seattle and brought cultural… Continue reading

  • Summer reading: Reviews from readers at our Northeast Branch

    Cakes and Ale by Somerset W. Maugham An old book with language used at the time in Britain. Smooth writing with an easy beat to follow. Interesting descriptions of people and places. ~ Carol Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America by Jonathan Gill A fascinating history of the… Continue reading

  • When Langston Came to Town

    It is always interesting to think of famous people walking the streets of our city.  That is the idea behind the Douglass-Truth Branch’s exhibit ‘When Langston Came to Town’. It memorializes the day in May, 1932, when Langston Hughes drove into Seattle for an author program at the First AME Church. The Seattle Times called… Continue reading

  • Sotero Photograph Collection

    The Seattle Public Library has a number of interesting visual collections. One example is the Sotero photograph collection, which offers a window into the world of African Americans in uniform during the World War II era. Marjorie Sotero collected these photographs during her time as a director of the African American Servicemen’s Clubs at Seattle’s… Continue reading