The Handbook of African-American Texas features more than 850 entries,
including more than 300 new articles and dozens of images, that chronicle the
individuals, communities, businesses, institutions, organizations, and events
that comprise the African-American experience and its significant contribution
to the heritage of the Lone Star State.
This project was envisioned
in 2011 by then TSHA President Merline Pitre, a professor in the Department of
History and Geography at Texas Southern University. Pitre, Project Director of the Handbook
of African-American Texas, acknowledges the struggles and
accomplishments of blacks in Texas and the need to preserve this history:
While African-Americans
have been subjected to slavery, segregation, and discrimination during this
long history, they have made significant contributions to the growth and
development of Texas. They have influenced Texas policies and social standards.
Living and working with other ethnic groups, they have helped create a unique
Texas culture....This Handbook is
initiated to capture, to create greater awareness, and to increase research on
the roles and contributions that Afro-Texans (individuals, groups, and
organizations) have made to their neighborhoods, cities, state, and often the
nation and beyond.
Historians from across the
state have contributed new scholarship in the making of this resource, and the Handbook of African-American Texas, as a
dynamic medium, will continue to add new articles and images in the future.
In celebration of the
African-American heritage of Texas, the Handbook of African-American Texas officially launches on Juneteenth.
