Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: George Allan Russell
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features George Allan Russell, an American jazz artist born June 23, 1923, Cincinnati, Ohio .
PBS
Pbs News Hour: Hollywood Blacklisting
Provides a written transcript or a Real Audio version of the interview of two blacklisted artists.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: How Art Gives Shape to Cultural Change
Thelma Golden, curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, talks through three recent shows that explore how art examines and redefines culture. The "post-black" artists she works with are using their art to provoke a new dialogue about race...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Duke Ellington
Biography of Duke Ellington, one of the originators of big band jazz, and a noted composer.
Other
Ernie barnes.com
Ernie Barnes is renowned in two fields of endeavor. He was a professional football player in the 1960s, but gained more recognition as a painter than as a player. This site offers a biography as well as images of many of his paintings.
Other
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art: Romare Bearden
The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art contains a summary of Bearden's life, some of his art, key ideas, discussion questions, and links to additional resources.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Bessie Smith
Read detailed biographical information on the "Empress of the Blues", Bessie Smith, a 1989 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Includes a timeline of key events and essential songs list.
Curated OER
Introduction
This site explores Black America's quest for equality from the early national period through the twentieth century. Content includes the work of abolitionists in the first half of the nineteenth century, depictions of the long journey...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Laura Wheeler Waring
Short biographical sketch on Laura Wheeler Waring, an American painter and educator who often depicted African American subjects.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Herbie Hancock
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Herbie Hancock, an American keyboard player, songwriter, and bandleader, a prolific recording artist who achieved success as an incisive, harmonically provocative jazz pianist and then...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Shirley Horn
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Shirley Horn, an American jazz artist whose ballads, sung in a breathy contralto to her own piano accompaniment, earned her both critical acclaim and popular renown. This site, rich in...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: R. Kelly
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features R. Kelly, an American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who became one of the best-selling rhythm-and-blues (R&B) artists of the 1990s and early 21st century....
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Janet Jackson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Janet Jackson, an American singer and actress whose increasingly mature version of dance-pop music made her one of the most popular recording artists of the 1980s and '90s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Kanye West
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kanye West, an American producer and rapper who parlayed his production success in the late 1990s and early 2000s into a career as a popular, critically acclaimed solo artist.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Little Brother Montgomery
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Little Brother Montgomery, a major African-American blues artist who was also an outstanding jazz pianist and vocalist. He cowrote "The Forty-Fours," a complex composition for piano that...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Ludacris
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Ludacris, an American rapper who exemplified the Dirty South school of hip-hop, an exuberant, profanity-laden musical style popularized by artists in the southern United States. Ludacris's...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Mavis Staples
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Mavis Staples, an American gospel and soul singer who was an integral part of the Staple Singers, as well as a successful solo artist.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Timbaland
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Timbaland, an influential American producer and hip-hop and rhythm-and-blues performer who contributed to the chart-scaling success of a host of recording artists in the early 21st century.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Tommy Johnson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Tommy Johnson, an African-American singer-guitarist, one of the most evocative and influential of blues artists.
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Vincent Colyer
Vincent Colyer (1825 - July 12, 1888) was a successful American artist noted for the images he created of the American West and a humanitarian who worked with philanthropic and Christian groups and the U.S. government to try to help...
Curated OER
National Portrait Gallery: Zaida Ben Yusuf: Everett Shinn: Photo
Black and white photograph of American artist Everett Shinn, taken by Zaida Ben-Yusuf.
PBS
Classics for Kids: Scott Joplin
A short biography of Scott Joplin (1868-1917 CE). Click to the past radio shows to hear his music and learn more about this famous composer.
ibiblio
Ibiblio: Web Museum: Whistler, James Abbott Mc Neill
A summary of Whistler's career with links to his contemporaries. Several of Whistler's pieces of art are available for viewing.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Dorothy West
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Dorothy West, an American writer who explored the aspirations and conflicts of middle-class African Americans in many of her works and was one of the last surviving members of the...