(John Sharper. 1863. Photograph. Library of Congress, Washington D.C. Carte De Visite Photographs from the Gladstone Collection.

LOC Prints And Photographs Division. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.)

Bibliography: African American Biographies

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Sorted by Title, then by Author 921 MYE Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-. Bad boy : a memoir. 1st HarperTempest ed. New York : HarperTempest, 2002, c2001. Author Walter Dean Myers describes his childhood in Harlem in the 1940s and 1950s, discussing his loving stepmother, his problems in school, his reasons for leaving home, and his beginnings as a writer. Burgan, Michael. Barack Obama. Chicago : Heinemann Library, c2010. Describes the life and accomplishments of Barack Obama, the first African American to be elected as the president of the United States; and features headlines from news stories during his lifetime. Fleischman, John, 1948-. Black and white airmen : their true history. Boston, Mass. : Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Presents the true story of two men--one African-American, the other white-who lived in the same Ohio neighborhood, went to the same school, joined the Army Air Corps in 1941, and finally became close friends nearly sixty years later. Hoose, Phillip M., 1947-. Claudette Colvin : twice toward justice. 1st ed. New York : Melanie Kroupa Books, 2009. Presents an account of fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin, an AfricanAmerican girl who refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks, and covers her role in a crucial civil rights case. McBride, James, 1957-. The color of water : a black man's tribute to his white mother. Riverhead trade pbk. 10th anniversary ed. New York : Riverhead Books, 2006. James McBride shares the story of his mother's life and complicated racial identity which he only learned after becoming an adult. He tells of her infancy in Poland as the daughter of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, her childhood in small-town Virginia, her move to Harlem at the age of eighteen, her marriage to an African-American man, her achievements as a wife and mother to twelve children, and her refusal to ever admit she is white. Winter, Jonah. Dizzy. 1st ed. New York : A.A. Levine, 2006. Simple text and illustrations introduce the life of jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie.

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Brown, Gene. Duke Ellington : jazz master. Woodbridge, CT : Blackbirch Press, c2001. A career biography of African-American musician Duke Ellington, focusing on his contributions to jazz. Krohn, Katherine E. Ella Fitzgerald : first lady of song. Minneapolis : Lerner, c2001. A biography of the celebrated jazz singer, known especially for her scat singing and "songbook" recordings of the works of many major American composers. Hardy, Sheila Jackson. Extraordinary people of the civil rights movement. New York : Children's Press, c2007. Profiles approximately sixty individuals who played significant roles in the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers, and Diane Nash, and includes a glossary and a further reading list. Fradin, Dennis B. Fight on! : Mary Church Terrell's battle for integration. New York : Clarion Books, c2003. Mary Church Terrell's family tree -- Who was Mary Church Terrell? -- A bowl of soup -- Bob Church's daughter -- "Hold high the banner of my race" -- "I am a colored girl" -- "The welfare of my race" -- Mr. Terrell "goes to Church" -- "Lifting as we climb" -- "I have done so little" -- A "meddler" -- "I intend never to grow old" -- "Your indomitable spirit" -- "Fight on" -- "Your long and valiant struggle" -- Afterword: "Those who will follow after you.". Profiles the first black Washington, D.C. Board of Education member, who helped to found the NAACP and organized pickets and boycotts that led to the 1953 Supreme Court decision to integrate D.C. area restaurants. Adler, David A. Frederick Douglass : a noble life. 1st ed. New York : Holiday House, c2010. Chronicles the life of Frederick Douglass, discussing his years as a slave, escape to freedom, acclaim as a famous orator, journalist, and presidential advisor, work as an abolitionist, and other related topics. Bolden, Tonya. George Washington Carver. New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, c2008. A biography of American botanical researcher and agronomy educator, George Washington Carver, whose work to promote alternative crops in the post-war South played a major role in revolutionizing Southern agriculture. Fahlenkamp-Merrell, Kindle. Louis Armstrong. Mankato, MN : Child's World, c2010. Growing up -- Becoming a musician -- The jazz age -- Finding fame -- A new beginning. A biography of African-American jazz musician Louis Armstrong, discussing his childhood in New Orleans, his lifelong involvement with music, his family and marriages, and his professional career that earned him worldwide fame. Helfer, Andrew. Malcolm X : a graphic biography. 1st ed. New York : Hill and Wang, 2006. Presents a brief biography of Malcolm X in graphic novel format that describes his life from his early experiences with racism through his political and religious conversions. Bolden, Tonya. Maritcha : a nineteenth-century American girl. New York :

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Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2005. Presents the personal memoirs of Maritcha Rmond Lyons who was born in nineteenth-century New York City and describes how she and her family escaped to Rhode Island during the 1863 Draft riots and how she overcame prejudice to become the first African-American person to graduate from Providence High School. 921 ANG Kirkpatrick, Patricia. Maya Angelou. 1st ed. Mankato, Minn. : Creative Education, c2004. Examines the life and accomplishments of the African American writer, performer, and teacher. Includes a selection of her poetry. Bolden, Tonya. M.L.K. : journey of a King. New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007. Profiles the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, and includes over eighty illustrated photographs that describe his marches, speeches, and non-violence philosophy. Johnson, Dolores, 1949-. Onward : a photobiography of African-American polar explorer Matthew Henson. Washington, D.C. : National Geographic, c2006. Presents the story of the expedition to the North Pole by explorers Robert Peary and African-American Matthew Henson, focusing on the contributions made by Henson. Levy, Debbie. Richard Wright : a biography. Minneapolis, MN : Twenty-First Century Books, c2008. A biography of early twentieth-century African-American writer, Richard Wright, that profiles his childhood living in the Jim Crow south, his determination to become a writer, and disappointment with his own country's racist laws. Nelson, Murry R. Shaquille O'Neal : a biography. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2007. Profiles the life of NBA basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, and chronicles his childhood and family, education, and basketball career. Butler, Mary G. Sojourner Truth : from slave to activist for freedom. 1st ed. New York : PowerPlus Books, 2003. Slavery in America -- The slave Isabella -- Living free -- The sojourn begins -- The Northampton Association -- On the lecture circuit -- The Battle Creek years -- The legend grows -- The nation divided -- The last crusade. Examines the life and times of Sojourner Truth, born a slave around 1797, discussing her separation from her parents at the age of nine, her years as a slave, her early experiences as a free woman, and her work as an abolitionist and advocate of women's rights. Sancton, Tom. Song for my fathers : a New Orleans story in black and white. New York : Other Press, c2006. A coming-of-age memoir as the author recalls his childhood in New Orleans during the 1950s and 1960s and his passion to learn the music and ways of a group of aging African-American jazzmen in the waning days of segregation. Fradin, Judith Bloom. Stolen into slavery : the true story of Solomon Northup, free black man. Washington, D.C. : National Geographic, c2012. Recounts the experiences of Solomon Northup, an African American man who was kidnapped into slavery and suffered through twelve years of

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bondage before being rescued from the Louisiana cotton plantation by friends from New York. 921 DAV Savage, Jeff, 1961-. Terrell Davis : TD. Minneapolis : Lerner Sports, c2000. A biography of the Denver Broncos running back who was chosen the Most Valuable Player in the 1998 Super Bowl. Hunter-Gault, Charlayne. To the mountaintop! : my journey through the civil rights movement. 1st ed. New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2012. The author describes her involvement in the civil rights movement and the way she felt at the inauguration of Barack Obama, featuring black-and-white photographs, articles from the "New York Times," and more. Smith, Charles R., 1969-. Twelve rounds to glory : the story of Muhammad Ali. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2007. Rap-inspired verse and illustrations describe the life of Muhammed Ali, discussing his bouts, struggles with societal prejudice, Islamic faith, Olympic glory, and more. Freedman, Russell. The voice that challenged a nation : Marian Anderson and the struggle for equal rights. New York : Clarion Books, c2004. Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939 -- Twenty-five cents a song -- A voice in a thousand -- Marian fever -- Banned by the DAR -- Singing to the nation -Breaking barriers -- "What I had was singing.". Tells the life story of singer Marian Anderson, describing her famous 1939 Lincoln Memorial performance and explaining how she helped end segregation in the American arts after being refused the right to perform at Washington's Constitution Hall because of the color of her skin. Davis, Sampson. We beat the street : how a friendship pact helped us succeed. New York : Puffin Books, 2006, c2005. Shares anecdotes from the childhoods, teen years, and young adult lives of three men from Newark, New Jersey, who made a pledge to each other in high school to stay safe from drugs, gangs, and crime, and work to become doctors--a goal they have successfully achieved. Neri, Greg. Yummy : the last days of a Southside shorty. 1st ed. New York : Lee & Low Books, c2010. A brief biography, in graphic novel format, of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, an eleven-year old African American gang member from Chicago who went on the run after shooting a young girl and was later found dead, shot by members of his own gang. Litwin, Laura Baskes. Zora Neale Hurston : "I have been in sorrow's kitchen" Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow, c2008. A biography of Zora Neale Hurston that provides information on her childhood, family life, education, and writing career.

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