Rutgers University Honors African Americans Who Are Part of Its History
Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey has renamed its College Avenue Apartments to honor Sojourner Truth. The library on the Livingston Campus in Piscataway has been renamed the James Dickson Carr Library after Rutgers’ first African-American graduate.
Harvard Law School Honors Slaves Whose Labor Produced Wealth That Led to the School’s...
Harvard University recently dedicated a plaque in the Harvard Law School plaza to honor the slaves who created the wealth which enabled Isaac Royall Jr. to provide funds for the establishment of the law school in 1817. The Royall family generated wealth from the slave trade and the operation of a sugar plantation in Antigua.
The University of Virginia Deals With a 1921 Pledge of $1,000 From the KKK
In a statement to the university community, Teresa A. Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, stated that "we’re going to acknowledge the pledge, and we’re going do so in a way that would be as disagreeable as possible for any remnants of the KKK who may be watching."
University of Virginia School of Medicine Honors an Early Black Graduate
Dr. Vivian Pinn was the only woman and the only African American in the 1967 graduating class. She later served for 20 years as director of the Office for Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health. Now, the medical research building at the University of Virginia has been renamed in her honor.
University of Illinois Acquires the Papers of Poet, Educator, and Publisher Haki Madhubuti
The Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois has acquired the papers of poet Haki Madhubuti and the archives of the Third World Press, the oldest independent Black-owned publisher in the United States.
University of Virginia Research Expands Knowledge of Former Slaves Who Fought for the Union...
Using military and pension records, researchers have compiled a list of 240 Black men from Albemarle County who served in the Union Army. The men included former slaves and free Blacks.
University of Maryland Eastern Shore Named a National Historic Site by United Methodist Church
The historically Black educational institution in Princess Anne, Maryland is the 536th historical site identified by the United Methodist Church.
Emory University Acquires a Collection of Letters Written by Barack Obama in His 20s
Rosemary Magee, director of the Rose Library at Emory University, stated the letters "reveal the search of a young man for meaning and identity. While intimate in a philosophical way, they reflect primarily a college student coming to terms with himself and others."
Emory University Acquires the Archives of Playwright Douglas Turner Ward
In 1967, Douglas Turner Ward was the co-founder of the Negro Ensemble Company at the St. Mark's Playhouse in New York City. Since its founding the Negro Ensemble Company has produced more than 200 new plays and provided a theatrical home for more than 4,000 cast and crew members.
A New Life for the Last Remaining Structure of Straight University in New Orleans
In 1871, Straight University bought a home at 1423 North Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans that was used as a boarding house and later a dining hall. The building is the last remaining structure that was once part of Straight University.
Princeton University Explores its Past Ties to the Institution of Slavery
Following the lead of other peer institutions, Princeton University has debuted a new website documenting research on the university's historical ties to the slavery. The first nine presidents of the university owned slaves at one point in their lives.
Oregon State to Rename Buildings So as Not to Honor Those Who Supported Slavery
Edward Ray, president of Oregon State University in Corvallis, has announced that the university will change the names of three buildings on campus because the people for whom the buildings have been named had expressed support for the institution of slavery.
University of Chicago Honors a Pioneering African American Alumna
The University of Chicago recently unveiled a bust of Georgiana Rose Simpson that sits on a pedestal in the Reynolds Club, the student center on campus. Dr. Simpson is widely considered as the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D.
Colby College President’s House Named to Honor a Former Slave
Samuel Osbourne, born into slavery in Virginia in 1833, came to Maine after the Civil War and served as a janitor at the college for 37 years. His daughter was the first African American woman to graduate from Colby College.
University of South Carolina Honors Slaves Who Contributed to Its Early History
The University of South Carolina has unveiled two historical plaques honoring enslaved men and women who worked on the campus of what was known then as South Carolina College in the years preceding the Civil War.
Alumnus Anthony Foxx Will Chair Davidson College’s Commission on Race and Slavery
The Davidson College Commission on Race and Slavery is charged with investigating how the college's own history is intertwined with the institution of slavery, the lives and work of enslaved persons, and conceptions of race that emerged from this history.
A New Documentary Film Tells the History of Delaware State University
The film tells the story of the educational institution that started in 1891 with 12 students meeting in an old plantation to the vibrant global university it is today. The project was proposed three years ago by Marilyn Whittingham, executive director of Delaware Humanities.
Michigan State University to Develop New Slave Trade Database
The project - Enslaved: The People of the Historic Slave Trade - was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The new online hub will link archival collections on the slave trade from several major universities.
Roanoke College Students Create Digital Archive Documenting the Area’s Civil Rights Era
Last semester students in an introduction to public history class at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, created a digital archive of newspaper and other clippings collected during the civil rights era by the Hill Street Baptist Church in Roanoke.
University of Georgia Launches New Fundraising Initiative Aimed at Black Alumni
On January 9, 1961, Hamilton E. Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault became the first African-American students to register for classes at the University of Georgia. Now the 1961 Club, commemorating that event, has been established to raise funds from the more than 14,000 Black alumni of the university.
New Historical Markers at Clemson University Relate the Good and the Bad
Clemson University in South Carolina has installed new signs at 11 historic buildings on campus explaining the historical significance of the buildings and also providing information on the people for who the buildings are named.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice Debuts an Online Archive on Slavery in New...
The new online archive includes more than 35,000 records. The index includes census records, slave trade transactions, cemetery records, birth certifications, manumissions, ship inventories, newspaper accounts, private narratives, legal documents and many other sources.
The University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Its Early Ties to Slavery
University founder, Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner early in his life but then became an abolitionist. About one half of the university's original trustees were slave owners. A working group at the university will now dig deeper into this history and offer recommendations for any next steps.
Study by Ohio State University Economists Shows Black Politicians Matter
A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Trevon Logan, a professor of economics at Ohio State University, finds that when Blacks hold political power their economic status rises. But when they lose political power, their economic fortunes dwindle.
New Historical Marker Honors First Black Student to Apply to the University of Southern...
Clyde Kennard applied for admission to what was then Mississippi Southern College in 1955 and was denied. In 1959, he applied again and was rejected. For challenging the rules of Jim Crow, he was framed and sentenced to seven years in state prison.
University of Virginia to Form a Commission to Examine Its Role in Racial Segregation
In 2013, the University of Virginia formed a commission that investigated the university’s historical relationship with slavery. Now the university has announced the formation of the President's Commission on the University in the Age of Segregation.
Princeton University’s Plan to Deal With the Legacy of Woodrow Wilson
At Princeton, Woodrow Wilson had refused to consider the admission of Black students. As President of the United States, he racially segregated the federal government workforce and appointed White supremacists to his cabinet.
Harvard University Acquires the Papers of Angela Davis
Professor Davis, who taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz until 2008, has been a political activist for most of her life, advocating for the rights of African Americans, women, and prison inmates.
University of Tennessee Students Creating Digital Archive of Records of Black Civil War Troops
More than 180,000 Black troops served in the Union Army during the Civil War and 1,100 were members of the 1st U.S. Colored Troops (Heavy Artillery) that was formed in Knoxville in 1864. More than three fourths of the Black troops in Knoxville were former slaves.
MIT Is the Latest University to Explore Its Ties to Slavery
Slavery was outlawed in Massachusetts in the late 1780s. However, researchers discovered that MIT's first president - William Barton Rogers - owned slaves while he lived in Virginia.
University of South Carolina Honors Its First Black Faculty Member
In 1873, during the Reconstruction period when Blacks held political power in South Carolina, Richard T. Greener joined the faculty at the University of South Carolina. Four years later, all Black faculty and students were purged from the university.
The University of Maryland’s Online Tour of Its African American History
The tour features 17 locations on campus that are significant to the history of African Americans at the university. It includes landmarks that celebrate the contributions of African-Americans to the campus and community.
Towson University Faculty Produce Film on Jim Crow-Era Baltimore
The film, produced and directed by three faculty members in the College of Education at Towson University, presents oral histories of seven Baltimore residents who recount growing up in the city before the civil rights era.
MIT Debuts a New Website Documenting Its African American History
At present, the website offers more than 500 illustrations, photographs, and other archival material. An additional 2,500 items already collected by the MIT Black History Project will be included in the future.
Rhodes College Students Set the Record Straight on Nathan Bedford Forrest
Students in a history class at Rhodes College in Memphis spent the fall semester researching the slave trade that occurred in the city prior to the Civil War. As a result of this research, a new historically marker will be erected where Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest sold slaves.
The Andrew Brimmer Collection at Harvard Is Now Available for Scholarly Research
Andrew F. Brimmer was a respected economist who was the first African American to serve as a governor of the Federal Reserve System. His massive archival collection of papers is now available for scholarly research at the library of Harvard Business School.
