African-American History

University to Rename Auditorium That Honored a White Supremacist

The board of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro has voted to rename Aycock Auditorium on its campus. Charles Brantley Aycock, a former governor of North Carolina, was a staunch segregationist and led efforts to disenfranchise Black voters in the state.

University of Scranton Recognizes Its First Black Graduate by Renaming a Building in His Honor

Louis Stanley Brown was born in 1902 in Scranton. At the age of 17 he earned a commercial degree from what was then St. Thomas College, later renamed the University of Scranton. Recently, the university renamed a campus building in honor of Louis Stanley Brown.

Columbia University Makes David Dinkins Archive Available to Researchers

The archives includes 10 hours of oral history interviews with Professor Dinkins as well as speeches, fundraising letters, campaign materials, position papers, and correspondence. He was the first and only African American mayor of New York City.

Spalding University Honors Its First Black Graduates

The new Patricia Lauderdale and Barbara Miller Endowed Scholarship honors the first two African Americans who graduated from what was then Nazareth College in 1951.

Emory University Students Find the Grave of a Civil Rights-Era Martyr

Undergraduate students enrolled in a course on civil rights cold cases at Emory University in Atlanta, discovered the grave of a Black man who violated the rules of Jim Crow in 1948 by casting a vote in a primary election. This act cost him his life.

Student Researcher Learns More About the First Black Graduate of Pomona College

In 1904, Winston M.C. Dickson became the first African American graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California. He later had a successful law practice in Houston, Texas.

The Role of Geography and Race in Remembrances of the Murder of Emmett Till

David Tell, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, is working on a book project on how questions of geography and race have altered remembrances of the Emmett Till murder case.

Yale University Removes Portraits of John Calhoun, a Proponent of Slavery

John C. Calhoun graduated from Yale University in 1804. He went on to become vice president of the United States, serving under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. A native of South Carolina, Calhoun was a major defender of the institution of slavery.

University of Minnesota to Digitize Its Vast African American Collections

The University of Minnesota's collections on African American history and culture include nearly a half million pages of documents as well as photographs and videos. The materials range from the sixteenth century to the present.

Yale Bestows Further Honors on the First Black Person to Donate Money to the University

Mary K. Goodman, a Black laundry woman in New Haven, Connecticut, died in 1872. She left her life savings of $5,000 to Yale University to support the education of African American divinity students.

Tape of Lost Martin Luther King Jr. Speech Found in the Amherst College Archives

On February 6, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the New School in New York City. Until recently, it was believed that there was no recording of the speech. But a tape of the speech was recently found in the archives of the student radio station at Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Gate on Haverford College Campus Linked to Black Architectural Pioneer Julian Abele

New research by a faculty member at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, has found that one of famed architect Julian Abele's first creations was the Edward B. Conklin Gate on the Haverford campus. Abele designed the gate while he was still a student at the University of Pennsylvania.

Alice Randall’s Class at Vanderbilt University Explores the History of Blacks in Country Music

Alice Randall, the award-winning author, songwriter, and writer-in-residence in African American and diaspora studies, taught a class that used mapping technology to trace the progress of African Americans in country music.

University of Maryland Renames Stadium That Had Honored an Opponent of Racial Integration

The board of regents of the University of Maryland System has agreed to rename Byrd Stadium as Maryland Stadium. Student protesters noted that during Byrd’s tenure as president of the university he barred Blacks from enrolling at the University until 1951.

Duke to Further Recognize the Black Man Who Designed Many Buildings on Its Campus

Julian Abele designed many of the Gothic buildings on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. But because of his race, the university did not originally celebrate the architect of many of its most important structures.

Tufts University Opens Archives of Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter to Researchers

Carter was a middleweight boxer who spent 19 years in prison after being convicted of a triple murder in Paterson, New Jersey. The convictions were later overturned by a federal court.

Winthrop University Will No Longer Give Out the Tillman Award

Winthrop University has announced that the university's top academic prize for students will no longer be named after "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman, a former segregationist governor of South Carolina and U.S. Senator.

The Fordham Bronx African American History Project Is Now Available Online

The Fordham Bronx African American History Project includes downloadable audio files and verbatim transcripts of 300 oral history interviews conducted between 2002 and 2013.

University of Kentucky Covers a Mural Showing Slaves in a Tobacco Field

The University of Kentucky has decided to cover up a mural in the atrium of Memorial Hall that shows slaves working in a tobacco field. The mural, which is 38 feet wide and 11 feet tall, will remain covered until the university decides how and where the artwork will be preserved.

University of Iowa Receives Archives of a Veteran of Freedom Summer

Eric Morton, who was a coordinator for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Mississippi during the 1964 Freedom Summer voter registration drive, became friends with students from the University of Iowa who came South to help in the effort.
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