LibGuides: Common Read 2020: The 1619 Project: Context


Library Research Guides

Historical and cultural background

American History: A Very Short Introduction by Paul S. Boyer
ISBN: 9780199908547
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Encyclopedia of African-American culture and history : the Black experience in the Americas by Colin A. Palmer
ISBN: 9780028660714
Publication Date: 2006
Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the present : from the age of segregation to the twenty-first century by Paul Finkelman (Editor)
ISBN: 0195397681
Publication Date: 2009
The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 3, AD 1420-AD 1804 by David Eltis (Editor); Stanley L. Engerman (Editor)
ISBN: 9780511975400
Publication Date: 2011-09-28
The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 4, AD 1804-AD 2016 by David Eltis (Editor); Stanley L. Engerman (Editor); Seymour Drescher (Editor); David Richardson (Editor)
ISBN: 9781139046176
Publication Date: 2017-04-20

Teaching Hard History
A report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) about inadequate teaching of the history of American Slavery in U.S. elementary-high schools. Includes a link to A Framework for Teaching American Slavery from the Teaching Tolerance project.

Use of language

Nikole Hannah-Jones created a style guide for contributors to The 1619 Project, paying particular attention to the choice of terms used to describe the people and institutions impacted by and party to the system of slavery. Hannah-Jones has not published the style guide, but here are a few resources in which she and other discuss it.

On why she uses the term 'enslaved' person" and not 'slave' in her writing
Highlights from the Fresh Air National Public Radio (NPR) show interview of Nikole Hannah-Jones: "A Call For Reparations: How America Might Narrow The Racial Wealth Gap." Scroll down to the section titled "On why she uses the term 'enslaved person' and not 'slave' in her writing" for Hannah-Jone's discussion of her choice of language in The 1619 Project.
The 1619 Project Contributors Dissect the Ways the Legacy of Slavery Lives On
Video of a January 27, 2020 panel discussion of The 1619 Project presented by The Chicago Community Trust. See 15:13-17:42 to hear Hannah-Jones talk about the importance of language and the project style guide.
Yes, 'Black' is capitalized when we're talking about race
Article by writer George M. Johnson (and endorsed by Hannah-Jones on Twitter) about the language used to write about the descendants of slavery in the United States.