African-American History

First established as a bachelor's degree program in 1969, the African American studies department at Yale University has been renamed to the Black Studies Department to reflect the growing number of new professors who study the African diaspora beyond the United States.

W. Wilson Goode served as Philadelphia's first Black mayor for two terms from 1984 to 1992. In addition to his public service, he is the founder of Amachi Inc, a national support program for children with incarcerated parents.

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Under Assembly Bill 7, California-based colleges and universities could provide admissions preferences to applicants of any racial background who can prove they are descended from someone who was enslaved in the United States prior to 1900. The bill is currently awaiting final approval from Governor Gavin Newsom.

McNeil was a member of the A&T Four - a group of four students at North Carolina A&T State University who organized a sit-in protest at a local lunch counter. The movement lasted for more than five months, ultimately leading to the store's desegregation.

“This history is not easy to grapple with, but it is part — very much part — of American history,” said Margaret Burnham, university distinguished professor at Northeastern University. “So we do this, not only because for those who are affected and who are still alive it is of enormous importance, but we also do this as scholars. Our job is to lift up, render visible history — important histories.”

In the years immediately following the Civil War, many Black Americans gained access to education for the first time. Although many of these new opportunities were systemically dismantled by the end of Reconstruction, Black children who were exposed to these brief educational benefits had better economic opportunities in adulthood, and passed those benefits on to their children.

A group of students at the University of California, Davis have found records of an African American community in California established by formerly enslaved people who were first brought to the state by their enslavers in the mid-1800s.

“Our hope is that this policy agenda will serve as a rallying point to increase momentum for positive, holistic change,” write the authors of the report from the Congressional Black Caucus and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “These challenges are not new, and we remain resolute and hopeful that change can and will be achieved.”

For the past four years, Dr. Ed Baptist at Cornell University has led a project dedicated to collecting and digitizing tens of thousands of advertisements listed before 1865 by slaveowners seeking to locate runaway slaves. Now, the National Endowment for the Humanities has issued a stop-work order on the project, preventing Dr. Baptist and his team from preserving an important piece of U.S. history.

A former Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Eaton studies African American literary and cultural history in the American West, women’s narratives, and Africana studies. She currently teaches as a professor of African and African American studies at the University of Oklahoma.

The John Winthrop House at Harvard University is named after two John Winthrops, both thought to be slaveowners. Following student demands and two years of review, a committee has agreed to drop "John" from the house's title, but "could not agree that the overall legacy of these two men demanded removing their names from the house."

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has recently bestowed $3 million worth of grant funding to 24 projects across the country that center on Black joy, resilience, innovation, and activism. Eight of these grants have gone to higher education institutions.

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education

“We’re living in a time when there are forces that are seeking to remove African American history and documentation from the public record. The time to commemorate the legacy of Black Philly music is right now," said Frank Johnson, co-developer of the new Philadelphia Black Music Archive at Temple University.

A set of photographs from 1850 featuring enslaved individuals will be transferred from Harvard to the International African American Museum in South Carolina following a settlement with the subjects' descendant, Tamara Lanier. She alleges Harvard took and retained the photographs without consent and capitalized on the photos by requiring a licensing fee to reproduce the images.

A team of scholars from several partnering organizations has identified the names of 2 million Black Americans born before emancipation who were included in the 1900 census. The database opens the door for numerous future research applications and could serve as a resource for people seeking to discover their family history.

In the 1880s, a New Orleans physician sent the skulls of 19 deceased African Americans to a German scientist to be used in racially biased research. Now, the remains have been returned to New Orleans and memorialized by Dillard University.

Throughout his long career in academia, Dr. Gates has made groundbreaking contributions to understanding the genealogical history of African Americans. His work has resulted in dozens of books, documentaries, and the popular "Finding Your Roots" series on PBS.

Percival Everett of the University of Southern California, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins of Yale University, and Edda Fields-Black of Carnegie Mellon University have received Pulitzer Prizes in fiction, drama, and history, respectively.