Celebrating the Achievements of African Americans
(April 12, 2001)
African Americans have made significant contributions to our country in a variety of fields. Perhaps you would like to read about some of them. While Nancy Doering, Youth Services Librarian, selected these titles with youth in mind, adult readers may also be interested in reading some of the upper level books.
To order any of these titles, contact the library by email, mail or phone. You may also request these titles online through our OPAC. Happy Reading!
Paul Robeson by Eloise Greenfield
RC 33247
Paul Robeson was born in 1818, the youngest of five children. His father was the pastor of a church in Princeton, New Jersey. Born a slave in North Carolina, Paul's father had fled to the North at the age
of 15. He taught Paul to love words written and spoken and to stand up for what he believed in. Paul would become a great singer, actor, and spokesperson for African American people. For grades 2-4.
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull
RC 43739
African American Wilma Rudolph weighed only four pounds when she was born in 1940, and she had 19 older brothers and sisters. Childhood polio left her leg paralyzed, but Wilma exercised until she not only
walked, but also became an Olympic gold medal runner. For grades 2-4.
The Real McCoy: The Life of an African American Inventor by Wendy Towle
RC 37158
Elijah McCoy was born in Canada in 1844 to parents who had escaped slavery in the United States. McCoy exhibited an unusual aptitude for mechanical devices, and in his teens, he went to Scotland to study
engineering. However, because of racism in the United States, he could only find work as a railroad oilman. Nevertheless, McCoy patented more than 50 inventions. For grades 3-6.
Revolutionary Poet: A Story about Phillis Wheatley by Maryann N. Weidt
RC 46214.
Biography of the first African American woman poet in the United States. Brought to Boston as a young slave girl in 1761, Phillis is educated by the Wheatley family and assisted in publishing her poems.
Includes descriptions of her living conditions and events leading up to the Revolutionary War. For grades 3-6.
The Riches of Oseola McCarty by Evelyn Coleman
BR 12553
Traces the youth of Oseola McCarty, an African American woman in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, including her career as a laundress and her rise to fame in 1995, when at the age of 87, she donated $150,000 to the
University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship fund for needy students. For grades 3-6.
John H. Johnson: The Man from Ebony by Lucille Falkof
RC 36202
Ebony magazine has been recognized for decades as one of the most popular African American publications, and Johnson Publishing Company is one of the nation's most successful black owned businesses. This
book tells the story of how John H. Johnson rose from poverty to become an entrepreneur heralded in the 1980s as one of the 400 richest Americans. For grades 4-7.
Ralph Ellison by Jack Bishop
RC 36113
Born in Oklahoma in 1914, Ralph Ellison moved to New York City's Harlem, the "black capital of America," in 1936. Befriended by the novelist Richard Wright, who encouraged him to write, Ellison
found that writing helped him to address such questions as "Who am I"? His quest for answers led to his novel Invisible Man (BR 8550 and RC 9600), the first book by an African American to
receive the prestigious National Book Award. For grades 5-8.
Henry Aaron by Richard Scott Rennert
RC 37545
Henry "Hank" Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1934. As a young child, Aaron shared a love of baseball with his father. In 1952, he signed with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American
League. A year later, joining the Jacksonville Tars, Aaron was among the first wave of African American major league players in the South. He is regarded as one of the game's greatest, most productive, and most
valued players. For grades 5-8.
Young, Black and Determined: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry by Patricia McKissack and Frederick L. McKissack
BR 11822
Biography of the African American playwright whose award-winning Raisin in the Sun (BRA 9977, RC 15750 and RC 43547) opened on Broadway in 1951. Provides the social and historical context in
which Hansberrry grew up and developed artistically. Examines her literary achievements and political activism during her 34-year life.
Thurgood Marshall: A Life for Justice by James Haskins
BR 09508
Born in segregated Baltimore in 1908, Thurgood Marshall championed equality and justice for all. The author examines the life and career of Marshall, who became legendary as the NAACP's chief counsel and
architect of the famous, Brown vs Board of Education, Supreme Court case. In 1967, Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court Justice. For grades 6-9.
Sorrow's Kitchen: The Life and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston by Mary E. Lyons
RC 41455
Lyons inserts samples of Hurston's fiction, autobiography, and folklore collected in Florida, Louisiana, and the West Indies into this account of the African American anthropologist and Harlem Renaissance
writer of stories, plays, essays, and articles. For junior and senior high.
Black, Blue, and Gray: African Americans in the Civil War by Jim Haskins
RC 46490
Examines the gradual acceptance of African American soldiers in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Includes excerpts from letters, documented accounts, and government transcripts. The last chapter
describes how historians ignored the role of African American troops in the war. For grades 5-8.
Black Stars in Orbit: NASA's African American Astronauts by Khephra Burns and William Miles
RC 41667
In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first African American astronaut to fly in space. This book traces the history leading to that milestone, including the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black astronaut in the
space program, and the important scientific and support contributions by blacks. It also tells how African American men and women continue the legacy in the 1990s. For grades 6-9.