The Ebony and Jet Archives
history and context in digital form
2008-12-12

Since the victory of Barack Obama for President, people have been talking quite a bit about perspective - where America has been, how far the nation has come. It's a great thing to say, but quite another to see.

The story of the African American contribution to America in popular media (and in our memory) has been too confined to the most dramatic flash points - marches, hangings, speeches, raised fists, celebrated "firsts." But the
true story of what Black America really is, in all its many forms, is in the smaller moments - the subtle changes in our images in advertising over decades, the transformation of our fashion sense, the unsung neighborhood heroes, the shaping and shifting of our political thought, the fierce expressions of our culture in times when fierceness could get you jailed, or worse.

These are the moments that define us most, and now all those important moments are captured in the digital archives of Ebony, Jet, Negro Digest and the seminal children's magazine, Ebony Jr.

And we're very proud to offer the world a unique and amazing look at that history through our new partnership with Google. Now, through Google Book Search, anyone can search the covers and content of all four magazines and see the original pages, in their full context and in full color.

For now you can view issues of Ebony from 1960 until 2007, all the issues of Jet since its launch in 1951, issues of Black World/Negro Digest after 1960 and all the issues of Ebony Jr.  Pre-1960 issues of Ebony and Negro Digest
will come later, but we're going to need your help in uncovering some rare issues. We'll be announcing that project at a later date.

We all know Ebony and Jet, but also take a look at the hidden jewels in this collection - Negro Digest and Ebony Jr. These are lost treasures containing critical social and political writing done by some of the most famous thinkers of their - and any - time.

In the coming months you'll be able to come to EbonyJet.com directly and search the entire archive through a special site-specific search engine.

To be clear, these are our historical archives. If you want recent issues in digital form, you can subscribe to our amazing digital version.  And if you're not a subscriber to Ebony and Jet, you're missing out on an incredible transformation. Sign up now.

Certainly historians and researchers will rejoice about the archive, and educators now have a searchable resource to inform their lessons. But the most powerful result of this archive will be the way it changes your mind and the way it provides the life-changing lesson that no matter how hip, smart and revolutionary you imagine yourself to be in this new century, somebody in 1945 was hipper, smarter and setting the ground rules for revolution way before their time.

Special thanks go to our CEO Linda Johnson Rice for the vision to give the "GO" sign to this project and a team of incredible archivists led by Pam Cash for preserving and gathering the collection. And of course, thanks to our
late founder John H. Johnson and all those who came before us for creating a foundation for us all.

We hope you enjoy it.

- Eric Easter, Terry Glover and the team of EbonyJet.com