University of Maryland Archaeologists Conduct Dig at Earliest Settlement of Free Blacks
A team of archaeologists from the University of Maryland is currently conducting a research project in Easton, Maryland, which they believe may be the site of oldest settlement of free Blacks in the United States.
West Virginia University Receives Donation of Artwork Depicting Racial Injustice
Harvey and Jennifer Peyton are donating a series of paintings to the Art Museum of West Virginia University that deal with racial injustice in the 1930s to the 1960s.
University of Virginia Names New Building After Former Slaves of University Professors
Both Isabella and William Gibbons were slaves who were owned by different professors at the University of Virginia prior to the Civil War. The new Gibbons Hall will house about 200 students this fall.
Will the University of North Carolina Rename a Building That Honors a KKK Leader?
In 1922 the university named its new history department building in honor of William Lawrence Saunders. A colonel in the Confederate Army, Saunders is said to have been a major figure in the Ku Klux Klan after the war.
Previously Unseen Photos of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March
Southern Methodist University in Dallas has recently released a series of photographs of the 1965 Montgomery to Selma voting rights march that were taken by a student at the university. The photographs have never been published before.
Wayne State University to Honor a Civil Rights Movement Martyr
Wayne State University in Detroit has announced that it will award the first posthumous honorary degree in its 145-year history to Viola Gregg Liuzzo. A White woman from Detroit, Liuzzo was slain in Alabama in 1965 by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Vanderbilt’s Black Studies Research Center Renamed to Honor Callie House
The African American and Diaspora Studies Program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, recently renamed its research arm the Callie House Research Center for the Study of Black Cultures and Politics.
Creating an Electronic “Freedom Trail” of Civil Rights Sites
Dave Tell, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, is developing a smartphone app using GPS technology that will guide visitors to key sites involving the murder of Emmett Till in 1955.
A New Archive Documents a Key Event in Duke University’s African American History
Duke University has acquired the archives relating to the production of the documentary film The Education of Ida Owens. Ida Owens was the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. at Duke.
New Support Group for Black Psychiatry Residents at Yale Medical School
Members of the psychiatry residency program at the Yale University School of Medicine have formed the Yale Solomon Carter Fuller Association in honor of the nation's first Black psychiatrist.
East Carolina University to Remove Name of White Supremacist From Residence Hall
The building, which opened in 1960, was named after Charles B. Aycock, a former governor of North Carolina, who was a strong supporter of White supremacy.
Duke University Debuts New Website Documenting the Voting Rights Struggle
The site, entitled "One Person, One Vote: The Legacy of the SNCC and the Fight for Voting Rights," went live one week before the 50th anniversary of the "Bloody Sunday" voting rights march in Selma, Alabama.
New Book Series Planned on the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection
The University of Georgia Press and Morehouse College have announced that they will develop a new book series based on the Martin Luther King Jr. collection held at Morehouse. The archive at Morehouse contains more than 10,000 items.
Scholar to Study African American Convict Labor at Clemson University
African American convicts were used to construct some of Clemson’s earliest buildings. Some of these convicts were former slaves or children of slaves. At least one was as young as 12 years old.
The FBI Kept Close Ties on Black Scholars
William Maxwell of Washington University in St. Louis made 106 Freedom of Information Act requests for FBI files on what he calls "noteworthy Afro-modernists." He found that the FBI had files on 51 of the 106 Black scholars.
Daughters of Two Murdered Civil Rights Icons Meet for the First Time
Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of Medgar Evers, and Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, met for the first time before a Black History Month event at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
University of Chicago Honors Its First African American Faculty Member
Julian H. Lewis earned a Ph.D. in physiology and pathology at the University of Chicago in 1915 and then went on to medical school. He was hired as an instructor at the University of Chicago in 1917.
New Study Finds That the Great Migration Negatively Impacted Black Mortality Rates
While the Great Migration provided millions of Blacks with better educational and economic opportunities, a new study finds that it also led to increase mortality rates for African Americans.
Professor Eric Foner’s New MOOC on Reconstruction Is About to Start
The new massive open online course (MOOC) will begin on February 25 and will last for nine weeks. Expect a 6- to 8-hour time commitment each week. The course is free and is open to the public.
A New Digital Archive Documents the Civil Rights Movement at Swarthmore College
The Black Liberation 1969 Archive "stands as a bulwark against the college losing or forgetting the story of Black student activism, which significantly improved Swarthmore for the better," says Professor Allison Dorsey.
Black Leaders Discuss Black Leadership
Over the past 14 years, University of Virginia professors Julian Bond and Phyllis Leffler recorded 51 video interviews with African American leaders. These interviews form the basis for a new book and a companion website that includes all 51 full video interviews.
University of California, San Diego Honors Sojourner Truth
The University of California, San Diego, recently unveiled a new life-size bronze sculpture of Sojourner Truth. The statue is the work of of local artist Manuelita Brown, a graduate of the University of California, San Diego.
Mississippi State Hosts “African American Treasures” From the Kinsey Collection
From March 21 to June 20, items from the private collection of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey will be on display at the Mitchell Memorial Library on the campus of Mississippi State University in Starkville.
Clemson University Decides Not to Rename Tillman Hall
Tillman Hall on the campus of Clemson University was named after a White supremacist who was a staunch opponent of providing education to African Americans. Yet, the university's board of trustees has decided not to change the name of the building.
Rice University’s Anthony Pinn to Teach New MOOC on Religion and Hip-Hop Culture
Anthony Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and professor of religious studies at Rice University. Teaching duties will be shared with Grammy nominee Bernard "Bun B" Freeman.
Stanford University Website Documents Early Life of Comedian Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor was born in 1940 in racially segregated Peoria, Illinois. He grew up in a brothel run by his grandmother, in which his father worked as a pimp and his mother as a prostitute. Pryor dropped out of school at the age of 14.
1909 Fisk Jubilee Singers Recording Inducted Into the Grammy Hall of Fame
The Recording Academy has inducted a 1909 recording of the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” sung by the Fisk University Jubilee Singers into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
MIT’s First Black Graduate Honored With U.S. Postage Stamp
In 1892 Robert Robinson Taylor was the first Black graduate of MIT. He spent most of his career at what is now Tuskegee University and designed more than 20 buildings on its Alabama campus.
Congressman Seeks to Restore Funding to Preserve Historic HBCU Buildings
In 1998, the General Accounting Office identified 712 historic buildings and structures on the campuses of HBCUs that it deemed worthy of historical preservation. No funding has been allocated to the program since the 2008 recession.
Duke University to Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of John Hope Franklin’s Birth
Professor Franklin was the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University and one of the most prolific and respected historians of the twentieth century. He was born in January 1915 and died in March 2009.
Efforts of Oberlin College Students in Mississippi in 1964 Recognized With Historical Marker
In 1964, more than 20 Oberlin College students and three faculty members traveled to Mississippi during Christmas break to help the congregation rebuild a church that had been burned to the ground by arsonists.
Students, Faculty Call for Renaming Tillman Hall on the Campus of Clemson University
"When you educate a Negro," Benjamin Tillman said, "you educate a candidate for the penitentiary or spoil a good field hand." The main building on the Clemson University campus bears his name.
Syracuse University Faculty and Students Helped Establish the Harriet Tubman National Park
For more than a decade, Douglas Armstrong, a professor of anthropology at Syracuse University, and his students have worked at the historic site in Auburn, New York, which includes Tubman's home, farm, and the Home for the Aged.
A Member of the Jena Six Graduates From College
In 2006, Mychal Bell was charged with attempted murder after the beating of a white high school student in Jena, Louisiana. Last month he earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies at Southern University.
University Puts Off Decision on Renaming Residence Hall Honoring a White Supremacist
The board of trustees at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, tabled a motion to change the name of Aycock Residence Hall on campus, which honors a former governor of North Carolina, who was a strong advocate of White supremacy.
Bowie State University Embarks on a Year-Long 150th Anniversary Celebration
A new website has been established to promote the anniversary. The site includes a history of the university, a timeline, a schedule of upcoming events, and photo galleries documenting the university's history.
