The HistoryMakers

What The HistoryMakers does

The HistoryMakers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational institution founded in 2000 by Julieanna L. Richardson and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The organization operates the world's largest digital archive of African American first-person video oral history testimony, comprising 3,300+ interviews totaling 10,000+ hours recorded across 413+ U.S. cities and international locations (including Norway and Mexico). The collection has been permanently housed at the Library of Congress since 2014 and is described as the only large-scale effort to record the African American experience since the WPA Slave Narratives of the 1930s.

The core product is the HistoryMakers Digital Archive, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, which provides fully transcribed, time-aligned video interviews with searchable transcripts and hundreds of thousands of metadata fields. Adjacent products include the ScienceMakers Digital Archive (free access to 211 African American scientists, 900+ hours, funded by NSF), the Digital Library (8,554 archival items), the Maker Directory (free biographies across 15 professional categories), and a Visual Archive exploration tool. The PBS documentary series 'An Evening With...' (distributed by NETA), K-12 curriculum tools, Faculty Innovations Fellowships, and a Student Ambassador Program extend the platform's educational reach.

Revenue is generated through a tiered membership model: BasicMaker (free), DigitalMaker ($30/month or $300/year for unlimited individual access), and InstitutionMaker (custom enterprise pricing for universities, libraries, schools, museums, and corporations, with LMS Canvas and EZProxy integration). Additional revenue streams include foundation grants (National Science Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York Life, NEH, IMLS), donations ($100–$5,000 suggested bands), and archival licensing fees for documentary and media use. The customer base spans higher education, K-12, public libraries, corporations, individual consumers, and media producers, with 200+ institutions currently holding memberships. Strategic partners include Carnegie Mellon University (technology), the Library of Congress (repository), the NFL/NFL Films, and Yale University's Digital Humanities Lab.

Name

The HistoryMakers

Legal name

The HistoryMakers

Website

https://thehistorymakers.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The HistoryMakers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating the world's largest digital archive of African American video oral histories, with 3,300+ interviews spanning 10,000+ hours. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Chicago, it serves universities, K-12 schools, public libraries, corporations, and individual subscribers through tiered memberships, foundation grants, and licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Historical Archive

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Libraries and Archives (519210), Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Media Archives, Libraries & Content Preservation (MPABADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Archive & Library Footage Licensing (News, Sports, Entertainment) (MPABANAC), Historical, Biographical & Archival Documentaries (MPADADAE), Audio Learning Content (Podcasts, Audiobooks, Listening Programs) (EDAGALAM), Clip/Short-Form & Archive Footage Syndication (Libraries/Stock) (MPABAMAL), Digital Learning & Course Subscriptions (CRAFAIAD)

Keywords

• Oral history archives
• Digital archive platform
• African American history
• Educational content subscriptions
• Cultural heritage archives

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Subscriptions: DigitalMaker memberships at $30/month or $300/year provide unlimited access to the HistoryMakers Digital Archive. BasicMaker memberships are free and provide limited access to ScienceMakers and preview content.
2. Institutional Memberships: Enterprise-level InstitutionMaker memberships for universities, public libraries, museums, corporations, and schools providing organization-wide access to the full Digital Archives.
3. Donations: The organization accepts one-time and recurring donations from individuals and organizations, with suggested amounts ranging from $100 to $5,000.
4. Archival Licensing: Licensing fees for using archival footage from the collection for documentaries, films, publications, and other uses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The HistoryMakers operates a subscription-based digital archive platform providing access to the largest collection of African American video oral history interviews in the world (3,300+ interviews, 10,000+ hours, recorded across 413+ cities). The organization sells individual memberships (BasicMaker free, DigitalMaker $30/month or $300/year) and institutional memberships (InstitutionMaker for universities, libraries, schools, and corporations), complemented by K-12 curriculum tools, PBS documentary distribution, faculty fellowships, and public programs.

Product overview

The HistoryMakers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational institution offering a comprehensive digital archive platform for African American history. The core product is The HistoryMakers Digital Archive (developed by Carnegie Mellon University), which contains over 10,000 hours of video oral history interviews with more than 3,300 African Americans. This is complemented by the ScienceMakers Digital Archive (free access to 211 top scientists), the Digital Library (8,554 archival items), and the Maker Directory (15 category-based biographies). The organization operates on a tiered membership model: BasicMaker (free), DigitalMaker ($30/month for full archive access), and InstitutionMaker (enterprise licensing for universities/libraries). Educational offerings include K-12 curriculum tools, Faculty Fellowships, Student Ambassador Programs, and PBS-TV documentary series. The platform is accessible via web, mobile devices, and integrates with institutional tools like EZProxy and LMS Canvas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The HistoryMakers Digital Archive The primary digital platform providing access to over 10,000 hours of video oral history interviews with more than 3,300 influential African Americans. Developed by Carnegie Mellon University, it features high-quality video content with fully searchable, time-aligned transcripts.
• ScienceMakers Digital Archive A specialized digital archive offering free access to over 900 hours of video recorded oral history interviews with 211 of the nation's top African American scientists and STEM professionals. Funded by a National Science Foundation grant.
• Digital Library A primary source digital repository containing 8,554 items from the personal archives and collections of HistoryMakers, including letters, photographs, scrapbooks, speeches, and audio/video recordings.
• Maker Directory A free public directory providing access to HistoryMaker biographies and images. Users can browse across 15 categories including ArtMakers, BusinessMakers, EducationMakers, ScienceMakers, and SportsMakers.
• Visual Archive An interactive archive dive tool allowing users to explore HistoryMaker profiles in a fun, visual way. Features filter options including favorite color, season, gender, and geographic regions. Developed by Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center students.
• BasicMaker Membership A free membership tier providing sample access to the Digital Archives and ScienceMakers tools, including the Digital Library, My History Chest feature, and ScienceMakers access.
• DigitalMaker Membership A $30/month or $300/year paid subscription offering unlimited access to the full HistoryMakers Digital Archive with over 10,000 hours of video interviews and full suite of research tools.
• InstitutionMaker Membership Enterprise-level institutional memberships for universities, public libraries, museums, corporations, and schools. Provides DigitalMaker-level access for entire organizations with scale to thousands of users and LMS Canvas and EZProxy integration. Over 200 institutions subscribe.
• K-12 Curriculum Tools Educational materials including Becoming a FutureMaker (5-lesson curriculum), From Loss to Thriving (6-lesson curriculum), ScienceMakers Toolkit Manuals (3 volumes), and Pioneers in the Struggle educational package aligned with Common Core standards.
• PBS-TV 'An Evening With...' Series Documentary series on PBS focusing on real-life African American stories distributed by NETA (National Educational Telecommunications Association). Covers history, lives, careers, and contributions of African Americans.
• Archival Licensing Licensing of archival footage from the collection for use in documentaries, films, publications, and other media productions through a formal archival licensing request process.
• Public Programs Free public programs series covering subjects from science to sports to politics. Includes live interviews, performances, and celebrations of the African American experience across categories including EntertainmentMakers, ReligionMakers, EducationMakers, SportsMakers, BusinessMakers, and MusicMakers.
• Special Collections Subject-based collections of interviews highlighting specific groups and organizations important to African American history, including National Airmen's Association, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Negro Leagues, and Pioneer in the Struggle.

Quantifiable outcome

• 200+ Schools, Universities, Libraries, Corporations subscribe to institutional memberships
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Carnegie Mellon UniversitycoreTechnology or IntegrationDeveloped the HistoryMakers Digital Archive and ScienceMakers Digital Archive platforms. Provides ongoing technical development and support for the archive infrastructure.
• Library of CongresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPermanent repository for The HistoryMakers Collection since 2014. Called the collection 'a culturally important collection' and 'a rich and diverse resource for scholars, teachers, students and documentarians seeking a more complete record of our nation's history and its people.'
• Yale University Digital Humanities LabsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on text-modeling experiment using transcripts from The HistoryMakers Collection to explore themes based on word frequency and co-occurrence using machine algorithms.
• NETA (National Educational Telecommunications Association)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributes The HistoryMakers documentary series 'An Evening With...' on PBS, covering African American history, lives, careers and contributions.
• Harvard UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Minority Archivist Training Program and user of Digital Archive for courses on African American experiences with the law.
• Emory UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Minority Archivist Training Program. Hosted the 2024 Digital Archive Innovation and Pedagogy Conference.
• National Football League (NFL)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnique partnership announced in September 2022 between The HistoryMakers, NFL, and NFL Films.
• 200+ Educational InstitutionscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSchools, universities, libraries, corporations, and organizations with institutional memberships providing access to the Digital Archive for students, faculty, and staff.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• StoryCorps: National nonprofit oral history project recording and preserving first-person audio interviews across the U.S. Most direct comparable: same nonprofit, archive-driven model, mission to preserve underrepresented voices, with a digital listening archive and educational programming.
• Black Past: Online reference guide to African American history with primary-source materials and biographical content. Comparable as a digital-first, education-focused platform serving the same audience of researchers, students, and educators.

Broad incumbents

• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: Federal institution preserving and interpreting African American history and culture. Comparable as a destination for primary-source African American historical materials, with overlapping educational programming and research mission, though delivered through physical museum exhibits.
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NYPL): New York Public Library research center dedicated to documenting Black history and culture. Comparable as an archive and research library for African American historical materials, serving academic and public audiences with primary-source collections.
• Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library preserving cultural artifacts and providing free public access to historical recordings, films, and texts. Comparable as a digital preservation platform offering primary-source media to researchers and the public.
• ProQuest (Alexander Street): Major academic database and streaming media platform serving universities and libraries with primary-source video, audio, and archival content. Comparable as a distribution channel competing for institutional subscription budgets.
• PBS: Public broadcasting network distributing The HistoryMakers' 'An Evening With...' series via NETA. Comparable as a distribution platform for nonprofit educational content and the de facto infrastructure partner for public-media archives.
• JSTOR: Digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources used by universities and libraries. Comparable as an institutional subscription platform serving higher-education research use cases.

Others

• Library of Congress: U.S. national library that serves as the permanent repository of The HistoryMakers Collection. Comparable as the institutional home for primary-source American historical materials and a research destination for scholars.
• Vox Media: Digital media company producing documentary-style video journalism and long-form editorial. Comparable as a documentary video content producer that licenses archival footage and serves digital audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheHstryMakers
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TheHistoryMakers
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/The-HistoryMakers/101427513238306
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-historymakers/about
• Instagraminstagram.com/thehstrymakers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The HistoryMakers