Black History Month

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Alexander Lucius Twilight

id you know that the first African American to graduate from college was a man named Alexander Lucius Twilight in 1823?  This is one of many accomplishments that are explored in the book Black Firsts.  Black History Month is a celebration, and a solemn time of remembrance, of the stories of those who have lived in the United States for the last four hundred years. 

Basquiat

We at Jessup Library want to offer the opportunity to read the works of African American authors throughout the last four centuries, as well as the historical books that delve into the facts of the past.  You could start with Phyllis Wheatley’s poems, a black poetess who first published in 1773, and while you are reading through Wheatley’s works, you could pick up local Poet Laureate Rita Dove’s collection of poetry Mother Love.  If you’re more interested in the historical aspect of reading, then Annette Gordon-Reed’s National Book Award-winning book The Hemingses of Monticello:  An American Family might be for you.  Or, you could check out a book on artist Basquiat, Langston Hughes’s poetry, or The Fire This Time, a book of essays about race in America.

The expression of poets, artists, historians all contribute to the remembrance of history.  Come check out some of their beautiful works at Jessup Library!