In support of the year-long statewide Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison event from February 2026 to February 2027, the Ohio Center for the Book has been awarded a Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) grant from the Library of Congress to develop new teaching resources centered on Morrison’s three novels set in Ohio: Beloved, Sula, and The Bluest Eye.
We are seeking literary scholars, public historians, or others with expertise in American history and the works of Toni Morrison to create essays and reading guides to provide historical context for those three novels of Morrison’s set in Ohio, incorporating pertinent online/digitized primary sources.
Scholars/experts would be responsible for creating:
- A narrative essay should be 2,500 to 3,000 words and should reference the primary sources from the Library of Congress and other local, regional, and national online repositories, placing the setting and story of the novels within their historical context.
- A reading/discussion guide – including 6 to 12 substantial discussion questions – to empower book discussion groups for each novel at the local level without the need for an expert or scholar to lead the conversation. The reading guide should also include a brief summary of the book to provide a stand-alone resource for discussion groups.
- An annotated list of at least 10 to 15 online primary sources from the Library of Congress as well as from local, state, and national repositories that are directly pertinent to the historical and cultural context of each novel. The primary resources will be referenced within the narratives and the discussion guides to complement each other and to provide opportunities for further research by readers as well as those interested in the time periods of the three novels. Note: Physical repositories can also be referenced within the primary sources list; however, digital resources should be given priority for ease of access.
Each narrative and discussion guide should be written in an accessible, engaging style, free from academic jargon or terms of art, and be able to be utilized independently by diverse audiences, including junior/senior high school teachers and students, college and university undergraduates, independent adult learners, and book discussion group moderators.
Primary sources are integral to this grant award, and we encourage scholars to identify and collect pertinent sources, primarily from the Library of Congress collections online. However, pertinent local, state, and other national repositories are welcomed. See an example of sources from the Library of Congress for Beloved below.
Essays, reading guides, and annotated lists of primary sources to be completed by April 30, 2026.
A stipend of $2,500 will be available for the creation of each set of deliverables. A set consists of three items: one essay, one reading guide, and an annotated list of primary sources for each novel. You may express interest in creating the set for one or more of the novels.
To be considered for this opportunity, please visit the online application form. If you have questions, feel free to email Don Boozer, Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator, at ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org.
Deadline for applications for consideration: Sunday, January 11, 2026
As an example of the types of primary sources being sought for each novel, the following is a selection of potential primary sources from the Library of Congress for Beloved, providing insights into the cultural and historical context within which Toni Morrison set her novel. The sources provide first-hand accounts of the struggles and triumphs of enslaved individuals; contemporary coverage of the life of residents of Cincinnati in the mid-1800s, including specifically the African American population. The scholar chosen to create materials for Beloved would be welcome to make use of these specific sources if they choose; however, they would be required to provide annotations, to incorporate them into the essay, and to create discussion questions centering on them as well in relation to the novels:
- The Modern Medea – The Story of Margaret Garner (wood engraving; Toni Morrison’s inspiration for Beloved) https://lccn.loc.gov/99614263
- Additional coverage of Margaret Garner’s story from contemporary Ohio newspapers includes:
- The Cadiz Democratic sentinel (Cadiz, Ohio), February 6, 1856
- Short article on the coroner’s jury verdict
- Anti-slavery Bugle (New-Lisbon, Ohio), February 9, 1856
- Carroll Free Press (Carrollton [Ohio]), February 21, 1856
- The Cadiz Democratic sentinel (Cadiz, Ohio), February 6, 1856
- Additional coverage of Margaret Garner’s story from contemporary Ohio newspapers includes:
- History of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue https://www.loc.gov/resource/llst.005
- The arrest of John, a fugitive slave of John G. Bacon of Kentucky, residing in Oberlin, Ohio, and his release from the hands of the officers by a number of citizens.
- Life of William Grimes, The Runaway Slave https://www.loc.gov/item/06020515/
- The address and reply on the presentation of a testimonial to S. P. Chase https://www.loc.gov/item/07015669/
- An account of a legal proceeding against Samuel Watson, an escaped slave, and of S.P. Chase’s legal defense of Watson, which resulted in a testimonial to Chase by African Americans of Cincinnati.
- Fugitive Slave Ads: Topics in Chronicling America https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-fugitive-slave-ads
- Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 12, Ohio, Anderson-Williams. https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn120/
- Also of interest: Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 7, Kentucky, Bogie-Woods (with combined interviews of others)
- The Colored Citizen (Cincinnati, O. [Ohio]), May 19, 1866 (Newspaper)
- Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83027095
- Digitized Issue: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83027095/1866-05-19/ed-1/
- The Cincinnati Daily Star ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880 (Newspaper)
- Record: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85025759/
- Digitized Issues: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85025759/?st=calendar
- Coverage begins Tuesday, July 13, 1875
- Maxwell, Sidney D. The suburbs of Cincinnati: sketches, historical and descriptive. Cincinnati: G.E. Stevens & Co, 1870. https://www.loc.gov/item/rc01002186/
- Proceedings of the semi-centenary celebration of the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Cincinnati, held in Allen Temple, February 8th, 9th, and 10th, 1874 : with an account of the rise and progress of the colored schools, also a list of the charitable and benevolent societies of the city https://lccn.loc.gov/91898101