How to Write for BlackPast.org

BlackPast.org Great Books
BlackPast.org Great Books

BlackPast.org is a “crowd sourced” online encyclopedia on African American history and the history of people of African ancestry outside the United States. Its success is built on a network of more than 900 volunteer contributors from six continents. We seek qualified writers to contribute content including entries and occasionally Perspectives articles. If you are interested in becoming a contributor and writing entries on people, places, and events of mutual interest to you and BlackPast.org, or if you would like to help by writing on terms from the existing backlog of potential entries, we would be glad to work with you. All BlackPast.org articles are vetted for historical accuracy and copy-edited before they appear. BlackPast.org reserves the right to refuse any submitted entry that does not meet its standards for accuracy and objectivity. BlackPast.org does not accept unsolicited entries or articles.

Recently a new uploading process for entries and articles was installed. Please see this link for a description of the process.

Our contributors are in three broad categories: academic scholars, those who hold a faculty appointment in a two or four year college or a university; student scholars, those who are currently students in a two or four year college or university; and independent scholars, those who are at least 18 years of age and who have good research and writing skills.

Listed below are links to the Encyclopedia Entry Guidelines and Perspectives Article Guidelines as well as PDF files and other information which provide the specific criteria for entries and articles. Additional information can be found in the BlackPast.org Style Guide. Use this resource much like a dictionary where if you are unclear on some style, grammar, or punctuation issue, you can look it up and find the answer here. 

Encyclopedia Entry Guidelines

Your encyclopedia entry should be in Word format and should look exactly like the one linked below (Michelle Janine Howard) when it is submitted:

Michelle Janine Howard (Word doc)

Perspectives Article Guidelines

Your Perspectives article entry should be in Word format and should look exactly like the one linked below (Mad Men in Black) when it is submitted:

Mad Men in Black: African Americans in the U.S. Advertising Industry (Word doc)

Every contributor, whether of entries or articles, should send in a bio (about 200 words) and a photo as a jpeg.  Both the bio and photo should be submitted long before you send in your entry or article.  Use the examples below as guides:

A Model BlackPast.org Contributor biography (Bernadette Pruitt) (Word doc)

A Model BlackPast.org Contributor photo (Rebecca Hill) (JPG

We invite you to help expand BlackPast.org by adding your contribution to the rich and diverse array of information that is African American and Global African history. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer contributor to BlackPast.org please contact us at [email protected].

ONE FINAL NOTE: Once Your Entry is Posted

While we at BlackPast.org will always strive to contact you once your entry is posted, especially if it is your first post, we also recommend that you check the What’s New on BlackPast.org section to see if it has appeared. Here is the link to the What’s New section: https://www.blackpast.org/whats-new-on-blackpast/