Jessie Carney Smith - Black Firsts

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Black Firsts: 4,500 Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events

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Black Heroes

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Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the African American Civil Rights Experience

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The Handy African American History Answer Book

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo: Vando Rogers

D istinguished in the library profession and a recognized educator, author, and scholar, Jessie Carney Smith is Librarian Emerita of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Previously, she was dean of the library and held the Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at Fisk. She completed her undergraduate degree at North Carolina A&T State University, continued her studies at Cornell University, holds masters degrees from Michigan State University and Vanderbilt University, and received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois.

Dr. Smiths work with Visible Ink Press resulted in three previous editions of Black Firsts; two editions of Black Heroes; The Handy African American History Book; and, with her colleague Linda T. Wynn, Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the American Civil Rights Experience. Other works that she wrote or edited include Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era (with colleague Dr. Leantin L. Bracks); Encyclopedia of African American Business (two volumes, two editions); Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture (three volumes); Notable Black American Women (Books I, II, and III); Notable Black American Men (Books I and II); Epic Lives: One Hundred Black Women Who Made a Difference; Powerful Black Women; Ethnic Genealogy; and Black Academic Libraries and Research Collections.

Widely celebrated for her work, Dr. Smiths recognitions include the National Womens Book Association Award; the Candace Award for excellence in education; Sage magazines Anna J. Cooper Award for research on African American women; the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries; the Distinguished Alumni Award from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University; the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois, School of Library and Information Science; the Research Career Award from Fisk University; and the Belle Ringer Image Award from Bennett College for Women. She has been cited by the American Library Association for her contributions to that organization and long tenure at Fisk.

BLACK FIRSTS

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ISBN: 978-1-57859-688-1
eISBN: 978-1-57859-730-7

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CONTENTS

PHOTO SOURCES

Adundi (Wikicommons): p. (middle).

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Keith Allison: p. (top).

AP/Wide World: pp..

Apavlo (Wikicommons): p. (top).

Arquivo/ABr: p. (bottom).

Associated Press: p..

Auburn University: p..

Joyce Banda, President of Malawi: p. (bottom).

Ralph Barrera: p..

Baseball Digest: p. (middle).

BeeCeePhoto: p. (bottom).

Belize Foreign and Commonwealth Office: p..

Bibliothque Nationale de France: p. (top).

Birmingham Public Library archives: p. (top).

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Darrell Blakely: p..

John Bracken: p. (top).

Brightline (Wikicommons): p..

(middle).

Brody2786 (Wikicommons): p..

William Patrick Butler: p. (top).

Canadian Film Centre: p..

Carolina Digital Library and Archives: p..

Marcello Casal Jr./ABr: p..

Ethan Casey: p. (top).

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City of Compton, California: p. (middle).

City of Minneapolis Archives: p..

Nikolas Coukouma: p..

Angelo Cozzi (Mondadori Publishers): p..

The Crisis: pp..

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Virginia DeBolt: p. (top).

Denver Public Library: p. (top).

Doha Stadium Plus Qatar: p. (middle).

Elisfkc (Flickr): p..

Executive Office of the President of the United States: p. (bottom).