history

This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black Archive…

Who was the first black man to make an archaeological discovery?

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to know more about my ancestors. All I know is that my…

So you think the Michael Eric Dyson article on Cornel West in the New Republic is a tough one? As well as his…

Who was the first black prima ballerina at the Met?

This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black Archive…

I have learned that my great-grandfather Peyton Locke (1840-1889) and his eldest son, Ben Locke, were both killed in…

Who was the first black woman to play professional baseball?

This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black Archive…

I am British-born to Jamaican parents and now residing in Miami. I have been working on my family tree for the last…

The 47th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination should inspire us all to reimagine this…

I’d like to know if I am related to the Younger brothers who ran with Old West outlaw Jesse James and his brothers…

This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black Archive…

Who was the first African-American woman to receive her Ph.D. degree from an American university?

Dear Professor Gates: 

The idea that in order to succeed an artist must first suffer is one with a long history. In that sense, the life…

This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black Archive…

Who was the first American businessman to furnish hotel guest rooms with amenities and toiletries?

Yosef ben-Jochannan, one of the last of the Harlem activist-intellectuals of the 20th century—those fiery,…