A Hammer in Their Hands: A Documentary History of Technology and the African-American Experience

Scholars working at the intersection of African-American history and the history oftechnology are redefining the idea of technology to include the work of the skilled artisan and theingenuity of the self-taught inventor. Although denied access through most of American history tomany new technologies and to the privileged education of the engineer, African-Americans have beenengaged with a range of technologies, as makers and as users, since the colonial era. A Hammer inTheir Hands (the title comes from the famous song about John Henry, "the steel-driving man" who beatthe steam drill) collects newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements for runaway slaves,letters, folklore, excerpts from biography and fiction, legal patents, protest pamphlets, and otherprimary sources to document the technological achievements of African-Americans.Included in thisrich and varied collection are a letter from Cotton Mather describing an early method of smallpoxinoculation brought from Africa by a slave; selections from Frederick Douglass's autobiography andUncle Tom's Cabin; the Confederate Patent Act, which barred slaves from holding patents; articlesfrom 1904 by Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois, debating the issue of industrial educationfor African-Americans; a 1924 article from Negro World, "Automobiles and Jim Crow Regulations"; aphotograph of an all-black World War II combat squadron; and a 1998 presidential executive order onenvironmental justice. A Hammer in Their Hands and its companion volume of essays, Technology andthe African-American Experience (MIT Press, 2004) will be essential references in an emerging areaof study.