African-American History

Historical Marker Honors a Tennessee State University Alumnus and Buffalo Soldier

A Buffalo Soldier, Lt. William McBryar earned the Medal of Honor for his "coolness, bravery and marksmanship" on March 7, 1890 when his 10th Cavalry troop was engaged with Apache warriors. He earned a bachelor's degree at the age of 74 at what is now Tennessee State University.

University of Michigan to Rename Two Campus Buildings That Honor Racists

Clarence Cook Little who served for a brief time as president of the University of Michigan, was a proponent of sterilization for the "unfit." Professor Alexander Winchell wrote about "the inferiority of the Negro."

University of California, Berkeley Acquires Its First Archival Collection of a Black Photographer

The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley has acquired more than 5,000 negatives and photographic prints from 91-year-old photographer David Johnson. He was the first African American student of legendary photographer Ansel Adams.

Duke University Establishes an Online Archive of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has established the SNCC Digital Gateway to make the story of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee available for students and researchers.

Four Universities Receive National Park Service Grants for Preservation Projects

The National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior has announced a series of grants totaling more than Q$12 million to preserve key sites relating to African American history. Four universities are among the organizations receiving grants.

College of William and Mary Honors Its First Black Graduate

Edward Augustus Travis enrolled at the William and Mary Law School in 1951 and graduated three years later with bachelor of civil law degree. No other Black student graduated from the law school for the next 18 years.

Brown University Cancels the Display of a Home Where Rosa Parks Stayed in Detroit

Brown University had planned to host an exhibit that included the reconstruction of a small home where Rosa Parks had stayed in Detroit after leaving Alabama. But the display of the home has now been cancelled.

University of Oklahoma Names an Academic Department to Honor Clara Luper

The University of Oklahoma has announced that it is recognizing educator and civil rights leader Clara Luper by naming the department of African and African American studies in her honor. Known as the "Mother of the Oklahoma Civil Rights Movement," she taught high school history for 41 years.

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.

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.

University of Mississippi Unveils Six New Historical Markers on Campus

Some of the markers pay tribute to enslaved laborers who took part in the construction of several buildings on the campus of the state's flagship university.

New Website Pays Tribute to Black Grandmothers

LaShawnDa Pittman, an assistant professor of American ethnic studies at the University of Washington, has established the website Real Black Grandmothers where she presents oral histories of African American grandmothers who play a vital role in the Black community.

Scholar Develops a Traveling Exhibit on the History of African Americans at Clemson University

Rhonnda Robinson Thomas, an associate professor of English at Clemson University in South Carolina, is creating a museum exhibit that will travel to 10 sites across South Carolina over the next two years.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.
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