Fighters for Freedom Reading Room 

Book List Inspired by the Exhibition 

Painting of Booker T. Washington teaching a classroom of young students.
Description

Learn more about the Fighters with this all-ages book list inspired by the exhibition, Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice.

 

For Young Readers

  • Aliki Brandenberg. A Weed Is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver. New York: Aladdin, 1988.
  • Cline-Ransome, Lesa. Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.
  • Cortez, Rio. The ABCs of Black History. New York: Workman, 2020.
  • de la Peña, Matt. A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis. New York: Dial, 2011.
  • Davis Pinkney, Andrea. Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters. San Diego: Gulliver, 2000.
  • Elster, Jean Alicia. I Have a Dream, Too! Valley Forge, PA: Judson, 2002.
  • Everett, Gwen. Li’l Sis and Uncle Willie. Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art; New York: Rizzoli, 1994.
  • John Brown: One Man Against Slavery with paintings by Jacob Lawrence. New York: Rizzoli, 1993.
  • Gandhi, Arun and Bethany Hegedus. Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story. New York: Atheneum, 2016.
  • Greenfield, Eloise. Mary McLeod Bethune. New York: HarperCollins, 1977.
  • Greenfield, Eloise. Paul Robeson. Rev. ed. New York: Lee & Low, 2009.
  • Harrison, Vashti. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History. New York: Hachette, 2017.
  • Translated by Mercedes Guhl. Pequeñas Líderes: Mujeres Extraordinarias de la Historia Afroamericana. Miami: Vintage Español, 2022.
  • Hudson, Cheryl Willis. Brave, Black, First: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World. New York: Crown, 2020.
  • Isabel Sanchez Vergara, Maria. Josephine Baker. Little People, BIG DREAMS. London: Frances Lincoln, 2018.
  • Harriet Tubman. Little People, BIG DREAMS. London: Frances Lincoln, 2019.
  • Harriet Tubman. Pequeña & Grande. Barcelona: Alba Editorial, 2018.
  • Mahatma Gandhi. Little People, BIG DREAMS. London: Frances Lincoln, 2020.
  • Lawrence, Jacob. Harriet and the Promised Land. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1993.
  • Levine, Ellen. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad. New York: Scholastic, 2002.
  • McCalman, George. Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen. New York: HarperOne, 2022.
  • Muñoz Ryan, Pam. When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. New York: Scholastic, 2002.
  • Powell, Patricia Hruby. Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2014.
  • Reynolds, Peter H. Say Something! New York: Scholastic, 2019.
  • ¡Di Algo! Translated by Juan Pablo Lombana. New York: Scholastic, 2019.
  • Ringgold, Faith. Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky. New York: Crown, 1992.
  • Robbins, Dean. Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. New York: Scholastic, 2016.
  • Dos Amigos: Susan B. Anthony Y Frederick Douglass. New York: Scholastic, 2021.
  • Robeson, Susan. Grandpa Stops a War. New York: Triangle Square, 2019.
  • Shange, Ntozake. Freedom’s a-Callin’ Me. New York: Amistad, 2012
  • Smith, Charles R., Jr., Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson. New York: Roaring Brook, 2010.
  • Tate, Don. William Still and His Freedom Stories: The Father of the Underground Railroad. Peachtree Publishers, 2020. 
  • Weatherford, Carol Boston. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2006.

 

Exhibition Catalogues

  • Mecklenburg, Virginia M. Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice. Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2024.
  • Powell, Richard J. Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson. Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1991.