Black History Pamphlets Collection

This material covers a wide range of issues related to Black history over the last 200 years. While some of the work is scholarly, and takes a retrospective, historical view, much of it is contemprary with the issues discussed. The historical materials includes two published essays by noted American Marxist historian Herbert Aptheker, regarding labor and slavery in the American south: one talks about labor in general, while the other rebuts many of the claims of a 1974 book Aptheker felt presented a pro-slavery viewpoint.

The largest portion of materials deal with Black rights, with much of the material covering the period from World War II to the 1980s. These include communist and capitalist viewpoints and critiques of political and labor movements, along with overviews of Black rights and equality with Whites.

The Noted Figures section focuses on some of the key figures in recent and distant Black history. These include appreciations of Martin Luther King and political activity done in his name, a retrospective of Malcolm X published two years after his assassination, and a 1968 essay by Huey Newton about the state of the Black Movement, published by Students for a Democratic Society.

There are several items related to Paul Robeson, including a reprint of his s 1950 speech about Negro-Labor unity, delivered at the national Labor Conference for Negro Rights. There is also a publication protesting the injustice of Robeson's passport being revoked in 1950. A related item is the full-page reprint of an ad taken out by the National Ad Hoc Committee to End the Crimes Against Paul Robeson, a collection of Black actors, writers, academics, and activists, protesting the play "Paul Robeson" in 1978.

There is also an undated program for an appearance by the celebrated Black evangelist Amada Smith, probably around 1890.

Periodicals include a copy of the Black Politician, discussing varied issues (notable especially as longtime California politician Mervyn Dymally served as Editor-in-Chief; a zine about the Black Panther party, and a collection of Black poetry. The two comic books represent early efforts to introduce Black superheroes into mainstream comics: Captain Confederacy and Black Lightning (notable for being the first Black member of the DC comcic Justice League of America).

This is expected to be a growing collection.