Celebrating Black History Month 2025
This Black History Month we celebrate the strength, resilience, and achievement of Black communities in the Washington, DC area and beyond. Read on for a list of books on topics including how sports and music have played a role in the fight for racial equality; a little-known but important giant of the early 20th century labor movement; and more.
“My Name is Not Tom” by local historian Susan Cooke Soderberg is the first biography to tell the true story of Josiah Hensen, a formerly enslaved minister whose story was coopted and twisted to form the basis of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Nannie Helen Burroughs by Rutgers University professor Danielle Phillips-Cunningham shines a light on an oft-overlooked giant of the early 20th century labor movement, revealing powerful lessons that still resonate today.
Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience by Georgetown professor Maurice Jackson tells the story of how Black Washingtonians have used music and sports to transcend racial divides.
Dirt Don't Burn by Edwin Washington Society CEO Larry Roeder and special editor Barry Harrelson is the inspiring, true story of a Black community that sheds new light on the history of segregation and inequity in American education.
"Let Us Go Free" by Xavier University professor C. Walker Gollar is a vivid and disquieting narrative of Jesuit slaveholding and its historical relationship with Jesuit universities in the United States.
Blacks and Jews in America by Harvard Divinity School professor Terrence Johnson and Georgetown University professor Jacques Berlinerblau is a Black-Jewish dialogue that lifts a veil on these groups’ unspoken history, shedding light on the challenges and promises facing American democracy from its inception to the present.
Between Freedom and Equality by Barbara Boyle Torrey and Clara Myrick Green is an original history of six generations of an African American family living in Washington, DC.
The Black Side of the River by University of Tennessee, Knoxville professor Jessi Grieser is an insightful exploration of the impact of urban change on Black culture, identity, and language.
Black Georgetown Remembered reveals how Georgetown's little-known Black heritage shaped a Washington, DC, community long associated with white power and privilege.
DC Jazz by Maurice Jackson and Blair Ruble offers readers a collection of original and fascinating stories about the DC jazz scene throughout its history.
Facing Georgetown's History by Georgetown University Adam Rothman and Middlebury College professor Elsa Mendoza is a compilation of documents that, taken together, provides essential insight into Georgetown University's past involvement in the slave trade—and how we can reckon with that history today.
Of the Land is a stunning collection of the first major collection of artist Lou Stovall alongside his poetry, with commentary and context by the artist’s son Will Stovall.
“My Faith in the Constitution Is Whole” by Mount Saint Mary’s University professor Robin L. Owens is a new examination of how Congresswoman Barbara Jordan combined sacred and secular scriptures in her religious activism.
The Capital of Basketball by John McNamara tells the exciting stories of the players, games, and coaches that have made DC hoops great for 100 years.