Teaching the History of Black Women: A Bibliographical Essay

The following article originally appeared in The History Teacher 13 (February 1980) and is reprinted here be permission. During the latter part of the 1970s, students of American history have recognized that black women\u27s unique history cannot be thoroughly analyzed within the confines of either black history or women\u27s history. Unfortunately, a gap exists between the realization of the goal to correct the problem and the publication of secondary works on black women\u27s history. To date, only one anthology containing original essays treats black women\u27s experiences from an historical perspective: Sharon Harley and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (eds.), The AfroAmerican Woman: Struggles and Images (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1978). This work is supplemented by two documentary collections, Gerda Lerner (ed.), Black Women in White America: A Documentary History (New York: Random House, 1972), and Bert James Loewenberg and Ruth Bogin (eds.), Black Women in Nineteenth Century American Life (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976). The paucity of secondary books leaves teachers with the problem of locating sources to assist in curriculum expansion and revision. Although only a few books have recently appeared, there are numerous historical essays describing experiences of black women. In addition, there are several older, yet still quite relevant books and articles that can aid history teachers in integrating black women\u27s experiences into United States, women\u27s, and black history courses