Support the Project on the History of Black Writing (HBW)

This campaign has concluded, but if you would like to still make a gift to support the Project on the History of Black Writing, please click here.

Help the Project on the History of Black Writing (HBW), a leader in research and inclusion, support student work, archive Black books, and transform the public humanities.

HBW is the longest running documentary and recovery project focusing on collaborative research, innovative scholarship and educational programs for broad audiences.

Founded in 1983, and a major force at KU since its arrival in 1998, HBW is committed to:

• literary recovery work in Black studies;
• book history and digital humanities;
• professional development and curriculum enhancement; and
• public literacy.

A leader in research and inclusion efforts, HBW has been student-driven from its inception. Thus, HBW consists of a team of students working alongside faculty to build skills for their future professions. Students are involved at every level, from grad students creating public literacy initiatives to undergrads conducting research on forgotten writers--and much more!  

Some HBW highlights include:

• Created a section of Encarta Africana 2000: The Library of Black America, a multimedia CD-ROM and the most comprehensive source of African American print texts at the time (2000).
• Hosted the Langston Hughes Centennial Conference, “Let America Be America Again: An International Symposium on the Art, Life & Legacy of Langston Hughes,” the largest ever conference devoted to the poet’s life and work (2002).
• Presented seven NEH-funded professional development summer institutes for secondary and university teachers on major Black authors (2002-present).
• Launched a blog focused on Black literary history and scholarship featuring scholar- and student-authored posts (2011-present).
• Created the Black Book Interactive Project (BBIP), a digital archive on African American fiction for scholarly research and teaching (2014-present).

This fundraising effort seeks to support the professionalization of students employed by HBW.  The Amandla Excellence Fund, named in honor of Marona Amandla Graham-Bailey, the late daughter of HBW Founder and Director Maryemma Graham, and a graduate student at the time of her passing, will support all facets of student professional development, including travel for research, grant writing and professional presentations.