Research Guides: Black Paris: France in the 20th Century: Home

Course Description - Dr. Hilary Jones

This course dives into twentieth century France as a site of Black intellectual, cultural, and political activity. Throughout the semester you will be examining the history of art, literature, music, and political protests that took place in the “City of Light” from the First World War to the era of de-colonization in the 1950s and the migration of people of color to France after 1960. Further, you'll be learning about the lives of African American travelers and expatriates who sought to escape the burden of discrimination in the U.S. and you will consider the experience of African and Caribbean soldiers, intellectuals, and writers who came to France as colonial subjects and/or as “colonial citizens.”

The purpose of this guide is to support your research efforts by highlighting relevant resources, library tools, and collections.

Course Books

Bricktop’s Paris: African American Women in Paris between the Two World Wars by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting
Tells the fascinating story of African American women who traveled to France to seek freedom of expression. This book can be accessed online or in print at Young Library, 3rd floor, Call number: DC718.B56 B85 2015.
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
Call Number: E185.61 .B2 2012 - Young Library, 4th floor
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time, from his home in "The Harlem Ghetto" to a sobering "Journey to Atlanta." Notes is the book that established Baldwin's voice as a social critic, and it remains one of his most admired works. The essays collected here create a cohesive sketch of black America and reveal an intimate portrait of Baldwin's own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.