Archival collage of a mid-century American civil rights march

Black History Matters

The Past is Present

History written for readers, not for footnotes.

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Black History Now

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Martha Minerva Franklin, Nurse and Organizer

Black History Now

September 26, 2026

Martha Minerva Franklin, Nurse and Organizer

Martha Minerva Franklin joined the ancestors (Oct 29, 1870 - Sept 26, 1968). A nurse, Ms Franklin graduated from Philadelphia's Women's Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1897 and was working in New Haven, CT. 10yrs later when she began organizing Black nurses and founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN)

Black History Now

September 26, 2026

Studio Museum of Harlem

Sept 26, 1968: The Studio Museum of Harlem was founded in the Harlem neighborhood of NYC. It is the 1st such museum in the U.S. devoted to the art of African-Americans, specializing in 19th and 20th century work as well work of artists of African descent.

A. Leon Higginbotham, Lawyer and Federal Judge

Black History Now

September 26, 2026

A. Leon Higginbotham, Lawyer and Federal Judge

Sept 26, 1962: President John F. Kennedy appointed Leon Higginbotham as a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission in 1962

Lieutenant Emily Perez, Highest Ranking Female Black and Hispanic Cadet in West Point History

Black History Now

September 26, 2026

Lieutenant Emily Perez, Highest Ranking Female Black and Hispanic Cadet in West Point History

Sept 26, 2006: 2nd Lieutenant Emily Perez, the highest-ranking Black and Hispani

Black History Now

September 26, 2026

Lou Meyers, Actor and Pianist

Lou Myers (Sept 26, 1935 - Feb 20, 2013). Actor, who was typically typecast as a grumpy old man, but he appeared in many movies, stage plays, TV sitcoms and dramas

Black History Now

September 25, 2026

Juanita Kidd Stout, Lawyer and Judge

Sept 21, 1959: Juanita Kidd Stout was named by the Governor of Pennsylvania to serve as a Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge

Our Purpose

Why this platform exists

Historianspeaks is a public history project devoted to making the Black past reachable — free of jargon, free of paywalls, and free of the flattened, one-note version of the story most of us were handed in school.

Through essays, conversation, and archival material, this site treats history as a working tool: something that explains the present and helps chart what comes next.

Collage of archival photographs, letters, and books from Black history

Blog

Black History Now

Weekly blogs on Black history—past and present that shape our contemporary lives.

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Collage of vintage microphones, vinyl records, and Black musicians and broadcasters

Podcast

The Historianspeaks Podcast

Long-form conversations running from Reconstruction politics to popular culture. Latest episode: Juneteenth and a legacy of song.

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Across the Centuries

A collage of the Black past, in color

From the marketplaces of West Africa through the age of sail, plantation colonies, Reconstruction classrooms, the Harlem street, and today’s block parties.

The African past: Kingdoms, scholars, and markets — The African past
Kingdoms, scholars, and markets

15th century: Coastal trade and early contact — 15th century
Coastal trade and early contact

16th century: Arrival and resistance in the Americas — 16th century
Arrival and resistance in the Americas

17th century: Arrival and resistance in a new world — 17th century
Arrival and resistance in a new world

18th century: Artisans and free communities — 18th century
Artisans and free communities

19th century: Freedom schools after emancipation — 19th century
Freedom schools after emancipation

20th century: City life, music, and movement — 20th century
City life, music, and movement

21st century: Culture and community today — 21st century
Culture and community today

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One dispatch a week: a new essay, a podcast episode, and something from the archive worth a second look.