This thesis explores the history and memory of the Black Panther Party’s Algerian exile. Despite
the fact that Algerians and Americans both frequently invoke the transnational connection
between the Black Panther Party and post-revolutionary Algeria in service of other purposes, few
historical studies have sought out to document the lives of the exiles and their relationship with
Algeria, state and society. The overall image that emerges from Algerian historiography is positive;
Algerians recognized commonalities between themselves and the Black Panther Party in terms of
experiences and ideology and therefore provided support. Archival documents suggest the
opposite: that the time members of the Black Panther Party spent in Algiers was wrought
with tension and hostility between them and their Algerian hosts. This thesis compares archival
sources with American and Algerian oral histories and contrasts American and Algerian social
memory on the topic. This contrast serves the argument that Algerians and Americans
remember this piece of history superficially, highlighting components and ignoring others to
ensure fit in larger historiographical narrative. This study, part of a growing body of research on
contemporary transnational history, uses largely untapped archival sources to contribute
to understanding of American and Algerian history.