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Reading Between the Lines

Black Innovators of the Early 20th Century

This series explores the social and political context of the lives of some of the most innovative Black Americans who lived and worked during the early 20th century. Each session centers on a book selected by Kevin McGruder, a graduate student at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

The series opens with a discussion of Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation by Rayvon Fouche, which highlights the compromises and considerable diplomatic and social skill required by three Black inventors as they navigated their way though the world of science.


This session focuses on Crusade for Justice!, the autobiography of one of this country's foremost African American journalists and reformers, Ida B. Wells.


A discussion of Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just by Kenneth R. Manning is the focus of this session.


The series concludes with a conversation about On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madame C.J. Walker by A'lelia Bundles, which tells the story of one of the first African American philanthropists who was also a marketing and business genius.