Oregon State Names Its Newest Dormitory in Honor of Its First Black Male Graduate
William Tebeau enrolled at what was then Oregon State College in 1943. He was not permitted to live on campus. He took a job tending the furnace at a fraternity house in return for a small room in the basement. He earned a degree in chemical engineering in 1948.
The Oberlin Conservatory Receives the Personal Archives of Jazz Great Milt Hinton
Hinton, a native of Mississippi, had a jazz career that spanned more than 70 years and his music can be heard on more than 1,000 recordings. In addition to his music, Hinton was an avid photographer.
Wellesley College Student Conducts Oral History Project of Black Alumnae From the 1950s
Nora Mishanec, a senior majoring in international affairs at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, has conducted an oral history project relating the stories of Black women at Wellesley in the 1950s.
Tuskegee Flight Instructor Honored on U.S. Postage Stamp
Charles Alfred Anderson, the chief flight instructor of the aviation school of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama during World War II who died in 1996, has been honored with a U.S. postage stamp bearing his image.
Indiana University Receives the Archives of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
The collection contains more than 300 linear feet of documents, audio-visual materials, publications, and memorabilia, including the original grave marker for Oscar Micheaux, who in 1919 was the first African American to produce a full-length motion picture.
The First Black Graduate of the University of Vermont
For many years it was believed that George Washington Henderson in 1877 was the first Black graduate of the University of Vermont. But Andrew Harris earned his degree 39 years earlier.
The University of Iowa Mounts an Oral History Project Relating to Freedom Summer
The University of Iowa has identified 11 individuals from the university community who were involved in Freedom Summer in Mississippi in 1964 and there may be more.
Virginia Commonwealth University Unveils Exhibit of Civil Rights Era Photographs
The effort was launched with the hope that the public would help identify the people in the photographs so as to better understand their participation in the civil rights movement.
Doctoral Student Explores Criminal Trials of Black Women During the Civil War
Tamika Richeson, a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Virginia, is researching records in the National Archives detailing 500 arrests of Black women in Washington in the years 1861 and 1862.
New Photo Archive at Stanford University Documents the Civil Rights Movement
The Bob Fitch Photography Archive, which contains more than 200,000 images, has been donated to the Stanford University Libraries. Fitch worked as a photojournalist for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the 1960s.
New Film Honors the First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. at Duke University
In 1967 Ida Stephens Owens received a Ph.D. in physiology from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She went on to conduct important research on drug biotransformation at the National Institutes of Health.
University of Nebraska Scholar to Examine Black Family Trees in Early Washington, D.C.
The Early Washington, D.C., Law, and Family Project, funded by a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities, will search through court records of 4,000 cases in the National Archives between 1800 and 1820.
Middlebury College’s Connection to 12 Years a Slave
Middlebury College in Vermont recently received the donation of two portraits, one of which shows the Middlebury College alumnus who rescued Solomon Northup from bondage in Louisiana.
New Information on the First Black Graduate of Yale
Until now, Edward Bouchet, who earned a bachelor's degree in 1874 was considered the first Black graduate of Yale College. New information finds that Richard Henry Green earned a bachelor's degree in 1857.
Tuskegee University Begins Yearlong Celebration of George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was born 150 years ago in 1864. In 1897 he began a 47-year career at what is now Tuskegee University. He developed alternative crops for southern cotton fields and products that could be made from those crops.
How Letters From His Mother Influenced the Writing of Langston Hughes
John Edgar Tidwell, a professor of English at the University of Kansas, and Carmaletta Williams, a professor of English and African American studies at Johnson County Community College shed new light on the writings of Langston Hughes.
Simmons College of Kentucky Receives Accreditation
Founded by former slaves in 1879, what is now known as Simmons College of Kentucky has received accreditation for the first time from the Association for Biblical Higher Education.
University of Louisville Discovers Old Photos of Martin Luther King Jr.
The Louis D. Brandeis School of Law recently discovered a series of 12 photographs that document a 1967 lecture given by Martin Luther King Jr. in the school's Allen Court Room.
New Digital Archive of a Scrapbook of a 1927 Black Alumnus of the University...
The scrapbook was the work of Patrobas Cassius Robinson, who enrolled at the university in 1923 when he was 17 years old. Four years later, he earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry.
New Silver Dollars Will Benefit the United Negro College Fund
The U.S. Mint is marketing a 2014 commemorative silver dollar coin on the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. From each sale, $10 will be donated to the UNCF.
Wichita State University Acquires Photographic Collection of Gordon Parks
A native of Fort Scott, Kansas, Parks was a true renaissance man. In addition to his photography, he was a composer, musician, author, and filmmaker.
Harvard Pioneer Chosen for Induction Into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame
William Clarence Matthews, a member of the Class of 1905 at Harvard University, led the university's baseball team in batting for three straight seasons. In 1905 he batted .400 and stole 22 bases.
Baylor University Archive of Black Gospel Music to Be Housed at the Smithsonian Museum
Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has announced that its Black Gospel Music Restoration Project will become a permanent feature of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Documentary on the Racial Integration of Clemson University to Air Nationwide
In 1963 Harvey Gantt became the first Black student at Clemson University in South Carolina. He graduated with honors in 1965. After establishing an architecture firm, he served two terms as mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina.
University Debuts New Online Historical Archive of Blacks in Southern Nevada
So far, there are about 500 items in the online digital collection called The Las Vegas African American Experience Project, including photographs, documents, videos, and audio recordings.
A Tape of a 1964 Speech by Martin Luther King Discovered at Arizona State...
A tape of the speech entitled, "Religious Witness for Human Dignity," was found in an old box of reel-to-reel tapes at a Goodwill store in Phoenix. There is no other known recording of the speech.
Four North Carolina Universities Examine German/African American Cultural Exchanges
Four universities in North Carolina are partnering to examine the intersections of African American and German culture in the twentieth century. The semester-long project is entitled "From Harlem to Hamburg."
New Award-Winning Film Documents Stories of English Women Who Married Black GIs
Valerie Hill-Jackson, clinical associate professor in the department of teaching, learning, and culture at Texas A&M University, has won the 2013 Upton Sinclair Award for her new film documentary.
Emory University Acquires the Papers of a Civil Rights Hero
The university's library has acquired a collection of papers from the Rev. C.T. Vivian and his wife Octavia Geans Vivian, who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
University of Kentucky Professor Honors the Tuskegee Airmen
Bobby Scroggins, associate professor of ceramics in the School of Art and Visual Studies of the University of Kentucky, was commissioned to cast two bronze sculptures of two Tuskegee Airmen with ties to Kentucky.
New Documentary Film on the Black Experience at Kansas State University
The College of Education at Kansas State University has produced a new documentary film that showcases the stories of five Black alumni of the university.
University of Kansas to Hold Classes in Historic Topeka School
The University of Kansas has announced has it has entered into a partnership with the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site to hold classes at the former segregated Monroe Elementary.
Yale University Acquires Letters of Author James Baldwin
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University has acquired a collection of letters authored by African American author James Baldwin.
Yale University Authenticates Account of a Nineteenth-Century Black Prison Inmate
Yale University has announced that researchers have determined that a manuscript acquired by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library in 2009 is the earliest known memoir written by an African American prison inmate.
The History of Tennessee State University
Bobby L. Lovett who served on the faculty of the history department at Tennessee State University in Nashville from 1973 to 2011, has written a masterful account of the university's history.
Ole Miss Receives Kennedy Letters Relating to Its Racial Integration
The University of Mississippi has received letters written by President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy that dealt with the integration of the Ole Miss campus.
