Videos

American History TV visited the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond’s exhibit on 400 years of African American history. Curator Karen Sherry focused on the period between 1619 and…

Cornell College professor Catherine Stewart talked about racial dynamics during the 1930s, including the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal-era effort to gather narratives from former…

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Bunch, author of A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture During the Age of Bush, Obama, and…

Sharon Robinson, the daughter of the late professional baseball player, Jackie Robinson, reflected on her life in the civil rights movement. She discussed her book and took viewer phone…

Tulane University professor John “Ray” Proctor taught a class about playwright August Wilson, his contribution to African American theatre and his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fences.

American University professor Ibram Kendi taught a class about Malcolm X’s views on Africa. Professor Kendi argued that through the 1960s, Africa had been associated with a lack of…

University of Texas at Austin Professor Peniel Joseph taught a class on the life and career of civil rights pioneer Ronald Walters. In 1958, Mr. Walters organized a desegregation sit-in and…

The Massachusetts Historical Society hosted a panel discussion titled, “Legacies of 1619: Recognition and Resilience.” Four scholars explored how African American activism, culture, and institutions…

The Congressional Black Caucus hosted a ceremony marking the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans to arrive in British North America. Participants included House Speaker Nancy…

Four civil rights activists discussed their experiences as part of the 1960s black freedom movement. Panelists also talked about race relations in modern times and how lessons learned in…

Tope Folarin talked about his book, A Particular Kind of Black Man: A Novel, in which he addressed issues of immigration, identity, and religion in tracing the Akinola family’s move from Nigeria…

Anna-Lisa Cox (The Bone and Sinew of the Land) and M. Scott Heerman (The Alchemy of Slavery) talked about black pioneers and slavery in Illinois.

Dorothy Butler Gilliam, who in 1961 became the first African American reporter at the Washington Post, talked about the hurdles she overcame during her career.

Professor Erica Armstrong Dunbar talked about her book Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, in which she recounts the life of Ona Judge, a…

Colonial Williamsburg historical interpreters talked about portraying 18th century African American life. Colonial Williamsburg hosted this event.

African American slaves who escaped to Union Army lines during the Civil War became known as contraband. In this program, the National Library of Medicine’s Jill Newmark talked about the…

Historians discussed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act of April 16, 1862. The act freed about 3,100 slaves in the nation’s capital and compensated owners up to $300 for…

Former Colonial Williamsburg interpreters talked about bringing African-American stories to life, and about how they felt compelled to tell their ancestors' stories appropriately. Panelists…

Author Daina Ramey Berry talked about her book, The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation. This interview was recorded…

Cathy Gorn described the National History Day contest. Then, two seventh grade students from Cleveland, Ohio’s, Birchwood School of Hawken presented a 10-minute performance titled, “Katherine Johnson:…