Timeline of African-American children's literature facts for kids

This timeline shares important moments in the history of African American children's literature in the United States. It also includes some key events in Black history and the wider world of children's book publishing. You'll learn about the books, authors, and events that helped shape stories for young Black readers from the 1600s to today.

Early History: 1600s and 1700s

1619

• The first Africans were brought to English colonial America. They arrived in Virginia, first at Fort Monroe and then at the Jamestown colony.

1761

• Jupiter Hammon became known as an early African American writer. His poem, "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, with Penitential Cries," was published. This made Hammon the first published African American poet.

1773

• Phillis Wheatley published her book of poems, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. She was the first African American author to have a book of poetry published.

1776–1783

• The American Revolution took place during these years.

19th Century: A Time of Change

1847

• Frederick Douglass started publishing North Star, a newspaper that fought against slavery.

1852

• Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin. This anti-slavery novel became very famous. One of its main characters was inspired by Josiah Henson.

1853

• Clotel; or, The President's Daughter by William Wells Brown was published. It was the first novel ever published by an African American author.

1859

• Harriet E. Wilson wrote Our Nig, a novel based on her own life story.

1861

• The American Civil War began on April 12. It lasted until April 9, 1865.

1865

• The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. This law made slavery illegal in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.

1868

• Elizabeth Keckley published her book Behind the Scenes. It was also known as Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House.

1884

• Mark Twain's book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published. It featured an enslaved African American character named Jim.

1887

• Amelia E. Johnson started publishing Joy. This was an eight-page monthly magazine created for African American children.

1892

• Ida B. Wells published her pamphlet Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. This writing spoke out against violence and injustice.

1899

• The Story of Little Black Sambo by Scottish author Helen Bannerman was published. This book became popular but showed Black people in a negative and stereotypical way.

20th Century: New Voices and Challenges

Early 1900s to Mid-Century (1900–1949)

1901

• Booker T. Washington's autobiography, Up from Slavery, was published.

1903

• W. E. B. Du Bois's important book The Souls of Black Folk was published.

1909

• The National Negro Committee was formed. This group later became the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP is an interracial group dedicated to civil rights.

1913

• Mary White Ovington, a white co-founder of the NAACP, published Hazel. This novel was about a middle-class Black child.

1919

• Children's Book Week was started in the United States.
• Louise Seaman Bechtel became the first children's book editor at Macmillan. This was the first US department focused only on publishing children's books.

1920

• W. E. B. Du Bois published The Brownies' Book. This was a monthly magazine for African American children. It included stories, poems, and news. Author and teacher Jessie Redmon Fauset was the editor.

1926

• Historian Carter G. Woodson suggested creating Negro History Week.

1927

• Charlemae Hill Rollins was hired as a children's librarian in Chicago. She later wrote We Build Together, a guide to books with positive images of African Americans.

1928

• Popo and Fifina: Children of Haiti was published. This was the first children's novel written by and about Black people. The authors were Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes, and E. Simms Campbell illustrated it.

1937

• Zora Neale Hurston wrote the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.
• Augusta Braxton Baker became a children's librarian for the New York Public Library. She helped create the James Weldon Johnson Collection to promote books with positive Black characters.

1938

• The Caldecott Medal was created. This award honors the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

1940

• Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award. She won for Best Supporting Actress in Gone with the Wind.

1945

• Jesse C. Jackson's Call Me Charley was published. It was the first modern children's novel with a Black main character.
• Two is a Team, a story about an interracial friendship, was illustrated by Ernest Crichlow. This was the first picture book illustrated by an African American artist.

1947

• John Hope Franklin wrote the non-fiction book From Slavery to Freedom.

Mid-Century to End of Century (1950–1999)

1951

• Little Brown Koko, a series of short stories, was published. These stories showed Black characters in a stereotypical way.

1952

• Ralph Ellison wrote the novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award.

1953

• The Jane Addams Children's Book Award was created. It honors books that promote peace, social justice, and equality.

1954

• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against "separate but equal" in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.. This decision helped end segregation in schools.

1955

• Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. This act helped start the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1956

• Arna Bontemps received the Jane Addams Children's Book Award for Story of the Negro. He was the first African American to win this award.

1960

• Ruby Bridges became the first African American child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South. This happened in New Orleans, Louisiana, after schools were ordered to integrate.

1962

• The picture book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was published. It is seen as the first picture book to feature an African American child as the main character.

1963

• The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech.

1964

• Whitney Young, a civil rights leader, criticized American book publishers. He said they were leaving African Americans out of children's books.
• The Council on Interracial Books for Children was founded. This group formed because there weren't enough diverse books for Mississippi's Freedom Schools.

1965

• Nancy Larrick published an article called “The All-White World of Children's Books.” She criticized publishers for not including enough African American characters. She found that very few books published between 1962 and 1964 featured contemporary African Americans.
• The Council on Interracial Books for Children was founded to support non-white authors through reviews and awards.

1969

• The Coretta Scott King Award was established. This award honors outstanding Black authors and illustrators of children's and young adult books.

1972

• Tom Feelings was the first African American to win a Caldecott Honor Award. He won for illustrating Moja Means One: A Swahili Counting Book.

1973

• Ebony Jr.!, a monthly children's magazine, was launched by Johnson Publishing Company.

1974

• African American illustrator Tom Feelings and author Muriel Feelings won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book.
• The Carter G. Woodson Book Award was created. It honors excellent books for ethnic minority children and young people in the United States.

1975

• Virginia Hamilton was the first African American to win the Newbery Medal. She won for her book M.C. Higgins, the Great.

1976

• The novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley was published.
• Leo and Diane Dillon were the first illustrators of color to win a Caldecott Medal. They won for illustrating Why Mosquitoes Bizz in People's Ears.

1977

• Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry won the Newbery Medal.

1980

• The Council on Interracial Books for Children published a guide called Ten Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Sexism and Racism.

1982

• Rudine Sims Bishop published Shadow and Substance: Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children's Fiction. This book shared findings from a study of Black children's literature from 1965 to 1980.

1985

• The Cooperative Children's Book Center began tracking the number of children's books published in the U.S. that were written or illustrated by African Americans.

1986

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first celebrated as a national holiday in the United States on January 20.

1988

• Just Us Books, a publishing house focused on African American children's and young adult books, was founded by Wade and Cheryl Hudson.

1991

• Tom Low and Philip Lee co-founded Lee & Low Books. This is a multicultural children's book publisher in the United States.

1992

• The African American Children's Book Fair started in Philadelphia.

1996

• The NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Children's was established.

21st Century: The Present Day

2000 to Today

2006

• The Cybils Award was founded by children's book bloggers. These awards honor books that are both well-written and popular with kids.

2007

• The Brown Bookshelf blog was created to promote African American picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels. Each year, they host 28 Days Later during Black History Month, featuring Black authors and illustrators.

2008

• Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. He was the first African American to become president.

2009

• Ashley Bryan was the first African American to receive the Children's Literature Legacy Award. This award honors an author or illustrator published in the United States.

2010

• The Walt Disney Company introduced its first African-American Disney Princess, Tiana.

2014

• Author Walter Dean Myers wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times titled “Where are the People of Color in Children's Books.” His son, Christopher Myers, wrote a companion piece called “The Apartheid of Children's Literature."
• A panel at the first BookCon conference featured only white men. This led to widespread criticism and calls for more diversity in children's book publishing.
• The social media hashtag #We Need Diverse Books was launched.

2015

• Publisher Lee & Low Books partnered with St. Catherine University to start The Diversity Baseline Survey. This study looked at diversity in publishing and reviewing jobs.

2022

• Social Entrepreneur and Children's Book Author Veronica N. Chapman launched Black Children's Book Week. This week celebrates Black children and the people who make sure they are represented in children's books.

Images for kids

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  Frontispiece to Phillis Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects

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  Jim standing on a raft alongside Huck from the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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  1st edition, The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman, 1899

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  Cover of The Brownies' Book, June 1921 issue

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  African-American children getting books at a North Carolina bookmobile stop.

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  Walter Dean Myers at the Library of Congress in 2001