Mission:
To preserve African American history as the missing link in American history.

Background:
Former television producer Julieanna Richardson established HistoryMakers in 1999 to capture stories of accomplished African Americans working in a wide range of fields and use video and new technologies to create an accessible resource for students, educators, filmmakers, and the general public. In the past, African American historical research has focused on slavery, the civil rights movement, and entertainment. HistoryMakers, in contrast, has focused on recording messages of leadership, achievement, and perseverance, and is disseminating its interviews through various media outlets, both online and more traditional communications, as well as via public programs and special events.

Outstanding Web Features:
Visitors to the HistoryMakers Web site can browsethrough a collection of African American leaders included in the organization's archive by category and read a biography of each interviewee; nominatea history maker; browse a timelineof significant historical events; and learn more about the digital video library. A portion of the organization's archive — more than 14,000 interviews from nearly 700 hours of video — can be accessed through the HistoryMakers Media Archive, which was developed in partnership with the Carnegie Mellon University Informedia Project.