Irish Revolution in the African American Press

A new spotlight exhibition running until July 2025 explores how key events in the Irish Revolution were reported on in the African American press from 1919 to 1923. The exhibition features excerpts from major black-edited newspapers including the Chicago Defender and Negro World commenting on the major events of De Valera’s American tour (1919-20), MacSwiney’s hunger strike (1920) and the Treaty (1921). This exhibition has been curated by Research Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Jemima Hodgkinson, who specialises in the history of anti-slavery and anti-colonial movements in the Atlantic world. You can find the exhibition on Q Floor at the Boole Library, by the entrance to the Student Social Space. Generous funding for this exhibition has been provided by Research Ireland, the Centre for Advanced Studies in Languages and Cultures (CASiLaC), and the Future Humanities Institute.