History from the African American perspective

Durham Colored Library, Inc. (DCL, Inc.) is one of Durham's oldest non-profit organizations – dedicated to the mission " To lift up stories about African Americans, both current and historical, to create a more comprehensive picture of the American experience."

Since de-segregation, a physical library is no longer needed but DCL, Inc. remains dedicated to educating and engaging our community about the power, talent, sacrifice, and love of African American people from 1918 through to today.

We focus on three main areas of education:

1. Publishing the biannual Merrick Washington Magazine for people with impaired vision and also for 5th-8th grade students to augment their history and civics studies. The articles featured in each issue cover everything from business, history, arts & culture, sports and science to high-tech and are culled from a range of qualified sources, including The New York Times, Essence Magazine, National Geographic Magazine, The Root, and The Washington Post to name a few.

2. A recently published biography of Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore's life and work. We believe it is important to share the story of Durham, NC's first African American physician, who was an important business and community leader and a statewide rural education advocate. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Durham's Black Wall Street, several businesses, colleges, & social service organizations at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Your donation will help DCL disseminate this book far and wide.

3. DCL, Inc.'s newest project is Techies4Tomorrow℠ (T4T) designed to improve the motivation and academic preparation of particularly young Black students with the goal of reducing the achievement gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) school subjects and ultimately careers. Improving educational attainment has long been known to reduce poverty and to improve the health of individuals and their families, their neighborhoods and of entire communities.