University of Cincinnati Removes Name of Founding Benefactor From Campus
Charles McMicken left a bequest of real estate to the City of Cincinnati that led to the founding in 1870 of the University of Cincinnati. McMicken traded in enslaved persons and fathered two children with enslaved women.
Eastern Illinois University Renames a Residence Hall to Honor Two African Americans
Zella Powell is believed to be the university’s first Black graduate, earning a degree from Eastern State Normal School in 1910. Ona Norton was the matriarch of a Black family in Charleston, Illinois, who housed Black student athletes in the 1950s who were not permitted to live on campus.
Prairie View A&M University Seeks to Rediscover Its Lost History
Prairie View A&M University is located on land that once was a plantation that housed 400 enslaved individuals. Many of the historically Black university's historical records were lost in a 1947 fire. Now a new committee has been formed to piece together the university's past.
University of Michigan to Examine Its History Relating to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The University of Michigan is set to begin a multifaceted, years-long project to study, document, and better understand the university’s history with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion — with the history of race and racism as its first major focus.
How Education May Play a Role in Reparations for Black Californians
“Without accountability, there is no justice. For too long, our nation has ignored the harms that have been — and continue to be — inflicted on African Americans in California and across the country,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The First Black Woman to Graduate From Arizona State University
For many years, it was believed that Love Hatton Jordan was the first African American woman to graduate from Arizona State University in 1928. Now an earlier Black woman graduate has been discovered. Stella McHenry graduated in 1925 and became a school teacher. She died three years later.
Baylor University Takes Steps to Confront Its Past Ties to Slavery
The board of regents of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has decided to remove a statue of former president and slave owner Rufus Burleson from the quadrangle that has borne his name. Burleson was also a colonel in the Confederate Army.
College of William and Mary Dedicates a Memorial to the Enslaved Who Worked on...
The memorial resembles a fireplace hearth and is meant to symbolize both a place of community and the center of domestic enslavement. A vessel to hold fire that will burn on special occasions will be installed at the center of the Hearth at a later date.
North Carolina A&T Acquires the The Justice Henry E. and Shirley T. Frye Archival...
Shirley Frye was a longtime administrator at North Carolina A&T State University and nearby Bennett College. Henry Frye was a district attorney, legislator, judge, and chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Emory University to Rename a Campus Center and Professorships
Emory University in Atlanta has decided to rename campus spaces and professorships honoring Robert Yerkes, a psychologist who vigorously supported eugenics, and L.Q.C. Lamar, who was a staunch defender of slavery.
Meredith College in North Carolina Removes Name of Former Trustee From Campus Building
The board of trustees of Meredith College in Raleigh recently announced that Joyner Hall, named for an individual who advocated for white supremacy and unequal funding for schools based on race, will be renamed. "The racist ideas James Yadkin Joyner, who served as a trustee for 55 years, stood for throughout his lifetime, are antithetical to Meredith College’s mission, vision, and values,” the board said.
New Scholarship Honors the First Black Woman Graduate of Yale Divinity School
A new scholarship at Yale Divinity School honors Rena Karefa-Smart, the first Black woman to graduate from the school. Dr. Karefa-Smart was also the first Black woman to earn a theology doctorate from Harvard Divinity School and the first female professor to earn tenure at the Howard University School of Divinity.
Vanderbilt University Acquires the Papers of Jazz Musician Yusef Lateef
Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries are now home to a rich collection of research materials from the life and career of Yusef A. Lateef, a Grammy-winning musician who played a pioneering role in bringing Middle Eastern and Asian sounds to American jazz.
New Cornell University Fellowship Honors The First Black Student to Earn a Ph.D. in...
The Thomas Wyatt Turner Fellowship will support up to 10 graduate students from 1890 institutions, which are historically Black colleges and universities that are land-grant universities. They will spend the 2022-23 academic year on the Cornell University campus.
The University of Tennessee Acquires the Personal Archives of Artist Beauford Delaney
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Libraries has acquired the complete personal archive of internationally renowned modernist painter Beauford Delaney (1901–1979). Delaney was a member of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the leading modernist painters of his time.
The First Building on the Campus of the University of South Carolina Named for...
During the Reconstruction period, Celia Dial Saxon was one of the first African American students to attend South Carolina College, later the University of South Carolina. She taught school in Columbia, South Carolina for 57 years.
One of the Earliest Schools for Black Americans to Become Part of Colonial Williamsburg
Last fall, the College of William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg announced that they had verified that a building on the college's campus, which was built in 1760, was the home of the Bray School where both enslaved and free Black children were educated in the eighteenth century. The college sold the building to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The University of Alabama Renames Hall Honoring a KKK Member, and Then Renames It...
Graves Hall, honoring former Governor Bibb Graves, a Grand Cyclops of the KKK, was renamed Lucy-Graves Hall to also honor Autherine Lucy the first Black student at the university. After an outcry that Lucy's name should not be joined with the name of a KKK leader, the university renamed the building Autherne Lucy Hall.
Researchers Find That El Niño Impacted the Volume of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
El Niño, an oceanic phenomenon that affects worldwide weather patterns, significantly affected the number of enslaved Africans transported from West Africa to the Americas between the mid-1600s and mid-1800s, according to an interesting new study from the University of California, Davis.
Yale Divinity Schools Examines Its Ties to Slavery and Begins to Make Amends
Yale Divinity School recently acknowledged its historical complicity in slavery and racism. It is allocating $20 million to fund 10 social justice scholarships each year for incoming students who are dedicated to social justice work.
Yale University Acquires a Collection of Gordon Parks’ Photographs
Gordon Parks was a true renaissance man. In addition to a long career as a photographer, he was a composer, musician, author, and filmmaker.
Baylor University Opens Its New Black Gospel Archive & Listening Center
The centerpiece of the Black Gospel Archive & Listening Center is a sound isolation pod, which features high-end audio equipment and a full keyboard for researchers who want to play along with sheet music or recordings from the collection.
The American Psychological Association Apologizes for Its Past History of Racism
The apology began by stating that "the American Psychological Association failed in its role leading the discipline of psychology, was complicit in contributing to systemic inequities, and hurt many through racism, racial discrimination, and denigration of people of color."
Yale University to Build a Memorial to Recognize Enslaved People Who Worked on Campus
Research by the Yale and Slavery Working Group found that enslaved people worked on the construction of Connecticut Hall on campus and that many leading figures associated with the early eras of the university held enslaved people.
University of Rochester Creating a Digital History of a Fort in Ghana Used by...
A new digital history project at the University of Rochester in New York will create a website with meticulously detailed virtual tours of a 1632 English fort on the coast of Ghana that was among the earliest to send enslaved Africans to the American colonies.
A New Oral History of Black Alumni at Four Educational Institutions in the Carolinas
The “Counting It All Joy!” initiative aims to better understand and to make more visible the narratives of Black people who have attended Davidson College, Duke University, Furman University, and Johnson C. Smith University between 1990 and 2020.
Bowdoin College in Maine Has Established Four Endowed Chairs to Honor Black Alumni
Bowdoin College, the highly rated liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine, has announced the creation of four new endowed faculty professorships that honor distinguished Black graduates of the college. The four new chairs will honor Matthew D. Branche, Iris W. Davis. Rasuli Lewis, and Frederic Morrow.
An Oral History Project of Black Students at Pennsylvania State University a Half-Century Ago
Among the oral history subjects, there were mixed feelings about Penn State. Some have returned to campus with fond memories, while others do not have positive memories and refuse to come back to campus.
Western Kentucky University Honors its First Black Student
The board of regents at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, has approved the renaming of Northeast Hall to Munday Hall. The change honors Margaret Munday, the first African American student to enroll at the institution. Munday Hall will be the first building on campus named after an African American.
Johnson County in Iowa Isn’t Changing Its Name, Just Who It Is Honoring
Johnson County in Iowa was originally named for Richard Mentor Johnson, a slaveowner who served as vice president under President Martin Van Buren. Henceforth, Johnson County will honor Lulu Merle Johnson, who was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Iowa and taught at several historically Black colleges and universities.
Emory University Apologizes for Failing to Consider a Black Medical School Applicant in 1959
In 1959, Marion Gerald Hood applied to the medical school at Emory University in Atlanta. After less than a week, Hood was informed that his application had been rejected. A letter from an admissions official stated "I am sorry I must write you that we are not authorized to consider for admission a member of the Negro race."
Board Votes to Change Name of Dixie State University to Utah Tech University
Dixie State University was founded in an area settled by Mormons from the South. It used to have a Rebel as a mascot and in 2012 a statue of Confederate soldiers was removed from campus. Today, African Americans make up 2 percent of the 11,000-member undergraduate student body.
Washington University in St. Louis Acquires the Papers of Author Charles Johnson
University Libraries at Washington University in St. Louis has acquired the papers of Charles Johnson, the acclaimed author, cartoonist, and essayist who won the 1990 National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage.
Three Virginia Community Colleges to Change Their Names
Three Virginia Community Colleges have a green light to change their names and two other colleges are being directed to consider doing likewise after the State Board for Community Colleges voted unanimously to amend its community college naming policy.
Arkansas State University Honors Its First Black Faculty Member
The University of Arkansas System board of trustees has voted to rename the building housing the military science program as the Lieutenant Colonel Frederick C. Turner Jr. Military Science Building.
Vanderbilt University Acquires Large Collection of Dizzy Gillespie Memorabilia
Vanderbilt’s partnership with the National Museum of African American Music has taken a giant step forward with the university’s inaugural acquisition — a rich collection of portraits, personal scrapbooks, signed albums, and more from the life and career of Dizzy Gillespie, a seminal figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz.
