Central Kansas Library System

Based on her popular Instagram posts, debut author/illustrator Vashti Harrison shares the stories of 40 bold African American women who shaped history.

Biography of Martin Luther King's widow, from her childhood in rural Alabama to her crusade to keep her husband's message of peace and equality alive after his murder in 1968.

A lush and lyrical biography of Harriet Tubman, written in verse. An evocative poem and opulent watercolors come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her larger than life.

This is a rhyming-text picture book about Raye Montague. After touring a German submarine in the early 1940s, young Raye set her sights on becoming an engineer. Little did she know sexism and racial inequality would challenge that dream every step of the way, even keeping her greatest career accomplishment a secret for decades. Through it all, the gifted mathematician persisted-- finally gaining her well-deserved title in history: a pioneer who changed...

A biography of the Underground Railroad conductor depicts her early life as a slave, her dedication to helping others escape from slavery, and her life after the Civil War. "Harriet Tubman was a brave woman who was born enslaved in Maryland in the 1800s. After risking everything to escape from her slave master and be free, Harriet went on to lead many people to freedom on a journey known today as the Underground Railroad" --

"Soon after American colonists had won independence from Great Britain, Ona Judge was fighting for her own freedom from one of America's most famous founding fathers, George Washington. George and Martha Washington valued Ona as one of their most skilled and trustworthy slaves, but she would risk everything to achieve complete freedom. Born into slavery at Mount Vernon, Ona seized the opportunity to escape when she was brought to live in the President's...

"The true story of Effa Manley, the first and only woman in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and her ownership role in the Negro Leagues leading up to the integration of Major League Baseball"-- Before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, Black athletes plated in the Negro Leagues, on teams coached by Black managers, cheered on by Black fans. Those leagues owed their existence and success to savvy businesspeople like Effa...

Meet Katherine Johnson, a brilliant mathematician who worked at NASA in the early 1950s until retiring in 1986. Katherine's unparalleled calculations (done by hand) helped plan the trajectories for NASA's Mercury and Apollo missions (including the Apollo 11 moon landing). She is said to be one of the greatest American minds of all time.--

"A picture book biography sharing the inspiring and incredible true story of the nation's oldest student, Mary Walker, who learned to read at the age of 116"--

A simple introduction to the life and work of Harriet Tubman.