Black History: Biographies

Celebrate Black history with critical biographies of African American public figures and leaders, selected by RCL editors. Resources for College Libraries (RCL) features core titles for academic libraries, curated by Choice/ACRL subject specialists. In Syndetics Unbound, RCL Librarians recommend a selection of the 90,000+ titles available at rclweb.net.

Updated January 2, 2025
RCL Librarians
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King : a life
Eig, Jonathan
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY A finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award | Named one of the ten best books of 2023 by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Time A New York Times...
Walk with me : a biography of Fannie Lou Hamer
Larson, Kate Clifford
Paper Book
Few figures embody the physical courage, unstinting sacrifice, and inspired heroism behind the Civil Rights movement more than Fannie Lou Hamer. For millions hers was the voice that made "This Little Light of Mine" an anthem. Her impassioned rhetoric electrified audiences. At the Democratic...
Looking for Lorraine : the radiant and radical life of Lorraine Hansberry
Perry, Imani
Paper Book
Lorraine Hansberry, who died at thirty-four, was by all accounts a force of nature. Although best-known for her work A Raisin in the Sun, her short life was full of extraordinary experiences and achievements, and she had an unflinching commitment to social justice, which brought her under FBI...
March. Book one
Lewis, John
Paper Book
The groundbreaking graphic-novel memoir by a living legend of the civil rights movement, March- Book One, is now available in an oversized hardcover edition. Created by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, this #1 New York Times bestseller is also a...
Frederick Douglass : prophet of freedom
Blight, David W.
Paper Book
**Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History** "Extraordinary...a great American biography" (The New Yorker) of the most important African American of the 19th century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading...
Malcolm X : a life of reinvention
Marable, Manning
Paper Book
Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year Years in the making-the definitive biography of the legendary black activist. Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X....
The new Negro : the life of Alain Locke
Stewart, Jeffrey C.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for BiographyA tiny, fastidiously dressed man emerged from Black Philadelphia around the turn of the century to mentor a generation of young artists including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence and call them the New Negro - the creative African...
Billie Holiday : the musician and the myth
Szwed, John F.
Paper Book
* Kirkus Best Books of 2015 selection for Biography * Published in celebration of Holiday's centenary, the first biography to focus on the singer's extraordinary musical talent When Billie Holiday stepped into Columbia's studios in...
My work is that of conservation : an environmental biography of George Washington Carver
Hersey, Mark D.
Paper Book
George Washington Carver (ca. 1864-1943) is at once one of the most familiar and misunderstood figures in American history. In My Work Is That of Conservation, Mark D. Hersey reveals the life and work of this fascinating man who is widely--and reductively--known as the African American...
A promised land
Obama, Barack
Paper Book
A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making--from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE * NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK...
Alvin Ailey : a life in dance
Dunning, Jennifer.
Paper Book
Now for the first time, the life and work of Alvin Ailey, one of the most beloved figures in modern dance, is examined by a writer uniquely able to place him and his legacy in perspective. Jennifer Dunning, New York Times dance critic and reporter, brings her expertise, extensive...
Unforgivable blackness : the rise and fall of Jack Johnson
Ward, Geoffrey C.
Paper Book
He was the first black heavyweight champion in history, the most celebrated–and most reviled–African American of his age. In Unforgivable Blackness, the prizewinning biographer Geoffrey C. Ward brings to vivid life the real Jack Johnson, a figure far more complex and compelling than the...

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