The 1619 Project and the Battle over Black American History

Portrait of Omar Ibn Said, enslaved person
Portrait of Omar Ibn Said, enslaved person

“The United States is a nation founded on both an ideal and a lie. Our Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776, proclaims that ‘all men are created equal’ and ‘endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights’. But the white men who drafted those words did not believe them to be true for the hundreds of thousands of black people in their midst. ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’ did not apply to fully one-fifth of the country. Yet despite being violently denied the freedom and justice promised to all, black Americans believed fervently in the American creed. Through centuries of black resistance and protest, we have helped the country live up to its founding ideals.” Nikole Hannah Jones, creator of the 1619 Project

“Critical race theory, the 1619 Project and the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda, ideological poison that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together. “ Donald Trump

“The #1619Project is a powerful and necessary reckoning of our history. We cannot understand and address the problems of today without speaking truth about how we got here.” Kamala Harris

In August 2019, the New York Times Magazine published The 1619 Project issue to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the British colonies in North America. 

The 1619 Project, created and organized by Professor Nikole Hannah-Jones, asserts that if we want to understand American history, we must begin with slavery and its consequences because slavery is at the center of our history, not on the margins. Ms. Hannah-Jones won a Pulitzer Prize for her opening essay. The project includes other essays, as well as photographs, poems, and podcasts on a wide range of topics, including: 

Since its publication, The 1619 Project has been widely read and discussed; reactions to it have included high praise, sharp criticism, and passionate debates, especially about how to best teach American history. Coming up on three years after its publication, The 1619 Project continues to play a major role in reshaping public conversations about the consequences of slavery and racism in America.  

Many conservatives have pushed back at The 1619 Project, particularly its use in classrooms. Newt Gingrich called it “brainwashing” and “left-wing propaganda masquerading as the truth”.  Senator Tom Cotton proposed the “Saving American History Act of 2020” to ban using federal funds to teach anything related to the 1619 Project because (according to him) it “is a racially divisive and revisionist account of history that threatens the integrity of the Union by denying the true principles on which it was founded.” Not one to be outdone, President Trump established the 1776 Commission, appointing 18 conservative critics to craft an opposing response to the 1619 Project. The 1776 Report has been widely criticized for factual errors and overall lack of academic rigor.

The 1619 Project and its portrayal of Black American History continues to provoke us to think in new, deeper ways. This provocation can be uncomfortable for white Americans, who have been shielded from the realities of Black Americans. But it is critical that Americans of all colors be able to talk openly, honestly, and peacefully, about our painful shared past. 

Resources

Listen to the 1619  podcast

Read The 1619 Project

Watch an interview with Nikole Hannah-Jones

Study with Teaching Hard History: A Framework for Teaching American Slavery

 

On Trial: America’s Historical Newspapers (1690-2000)

America’s Historical Newspapers (1690-2000) features a timeline-based interface, divided into key eras in U.S. history—from Colonial times to Globalization and the Information Age. Each era features coverage pertaining to Government, Military and Political Events; Social and Cultural Issues; and Discoveries, Inventions and Firsts with hundreds of timeline topics available. Each topic addressed includes an overview, links to related articles and suggested search terms to continue research. Articles are labeled (pro/con piece, speech, first-hand account, battle report, etc.) to help students quickly identify content that will prove useful for course assignments and individual research.
Screenshot of database's timeline-view interface.
The trial ends on Friday, May 18, 2012. Access is from on- and off-campus so try out this database today!
Your feedback is greatly appreciated in assessing trial databases. Please contact Prof. Allie Verbovetskaya at averbovetskaya@citytech.cuny.edu with your comments, questions, or concerns about America’s Historical Newspapers.
Don’t forget! All databases currently under consideration by the City Tech library are listed on the library’s website.

It’s time to JAM!

In addition to being National Poetry Month, April is also Jazz Appreciation Month!
Photos of Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Stan Kenton, Bessie Smith, Teddy Wilson
Celebrate by listening to Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Stan Kenton, Teddy Wilson, Bessie Smith, and many other jazz and blues greats on Naxos Music Library. (Just remember to log out when you’ve reached your maximum capacity of jazz for the day! Our license only allows 3 simultaneous users so logging out ensures others have access to the database, too.)
If you’re more interested in learning about jazz and its history, consider checking out Oxford Music Online. This database lets you access and cross-search multiple music reference resources at once. Advanced search options provide powerful tools for content navigation, including biography searching, bibliography searching, and the ability to easily search within longer, multi-section articles.
Prefer to experience jazz history in person? Considering visiting the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and the Louis Armstrong House Museum, both right here in New York City.

Cambridge Histories and Caribbean Lit

Starting off 2010 with a bang, we have two new resources: Cambridge Histories Online and Alexander Street’s Caribbean Literature.  Off-campus access is now available.
Cambridge Histories Online consists of Cambridge University Press’s reference titles in history. The collection is both browseable and searchable.
Caribbean Literature (Alexander Street) is primary text material and covers the 19th and 20th centuries. Users can explore this by specific Caribbean island or region.

NYCCT Library Presents Brooklyn History Exhibit

1The borough of Brooklyn is currently enjoying a renaissance, as can be seen in the rise of DUMBO, MetroTech, Williamsburg, Ditmas Park, etc.  But in the 1950s and 1960s it was in decline.  Starting in the 1970s, however, a number of local forces came together to reverse this condition, producing the renaissance that is Brooklyn today.  The current exhibit in the Ursula C. Schwerin Library of New York City College of Technology, “The Roots of Modern Brooklyn:  A Look at the 1970s and 1980s”, documents how a combination of business, political and social forces helped to turn the tide to produce the vibrant borough that we see in the 21st century.
The individual sections (bottoming out in Brooklyn; Brooklyn and the world; turning things around; Brooklyn’s people power; preserving, restoring, renewing, and creating communities; celebrating Brooklyn’s arts and cultures; and celebrating Brooklyn) chronicle the fascinating history of this turbulent period in the borough’s history.  Most of the materials displayed in this traveling exhibit are drawn from the archival holdings of the Brooklyn College Library, which includes the holdings of The Phoenix Newspaper (1972-1995), published by Dnynia and Michael Armstrong.
2The display can be viewed during the months of March and April 2009.  It can be viewed in the Library during the following hours:  Mondays through Thursdays from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m., Fridays from 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.  During the Spring recess, the Library will be open from 9:00 a.m.-4:45 p.m. on 4/8-4/10 and 4/13-4/17.  It will be closed on 4/11.

The Gilded Age, On Trial

(from the publisher) The Gilded Age brings primary documents and scholarly commentary together into a searchable collection that is the definitive electronic resource for students and scholars researching this important period in American history. In addition to an extensive selection of key treatises that reflect the social and cultural ferment of the late nineteenth century, The Gilded Age offers a wealth of rare materials, including songs, letters, photographs, cartoons, government documents, and ephemera. This primary content is enhanced by video interviews with scholars and numerous topical critical documentary essays. Covering such themes as race, labor, immigration, commerce, western expansion, and women’s suffrage, these essays illuminate the rapidly changing cultural landscape of America during the decades between the end of the Civil War and the election of Theodore Roosevelt.”
On trial through July 1, 2008. Access on campus only.