Drusilla Dunjee Houston

Black historian

Drusilla Dunjee Houston was famous for writing about the history of Black people. Her most important book was Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire: Marvellous Facts of Authentic Records. This book had lots of different volumes.

Houston wrote about where African American people came from, to show that Africa has an amazing history. During Houston’s life, history was usually about white people and their background, so her work was very special. There was a myth at the time, which said that African people had no important history of their own, so Houston wanted to show this was wrong.

Rewriting history

Houston wrote a lot of newspaper articles as well as books. She wrote nearly 3000 articles, which were read by a lot of people. She also helped to start the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) which still exists today.

The most important thing that Houston wrote in her work, was that Black African people had a big influence on the ancient world, which was often thought to be shaped by white people in the past. Her work is still very important, and is used by a lot of historians today.

The Association of Black Women Historians and the Black Classic Press have honoured the amazing work Drusilla Dunjee Houston did, by creating the Drusilla Dunjee Houston Memorial Scholarship Award.