Framingham State University to Honor Its First Black Graduate
Mary Miles Bibb graduated from the Massachusetts State Normal School in Lexington in 1843, The school later became Framingham State University. The university plans to name a residence hall in her honor.
“Propped Up” by Higher Education
Angela Mae Kupenda, a professor of law at the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, relates how the dream of higher education propped up her early life - in more ways than one.
A Handwritten Letter by Rosa Parks Has Been Donated to Alabama State University
In January 1957, the home of Rev. Bob Graetz and his wife Jeannie, a White couple who were both very active in the civil rights movement in the city, was bombed. Rosa Parks, who lived across the street wrote a letter describing that incident. The letter has now been donated to Alabama State University.
A Mural With Stereotypical Images of Blacks Is Once Again on View at the...
But the university has balanced the images from its past with new artwork showing the silhouettes and portraits of three African Americans important to the state’s history.
Johns Hopkins University to Name a New Building After Henrietta Lacks
A new interdisciplinary building on Johns Hopkins University's East Baltimore campus will be named in honor of Henrietta Lacks, who was the source of the HeLa cell line that has been critical to numerous significant advances in modern medicine.
Princeton University’s Tera Hunter Wins Book Awards From the American Historical Association
Tera W. Hunter, the Edwards Professor of History and professor of African American studies at Princeton University in New Jersey, has been awarded the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in women's history and/or feminist theory as well as the Littleton-Griswold Prize in U.S. law and society from the American Historical Association.
Duke University’s New Slavery to Freedom Lab
According to its website, the new lab will "examine the life and afterlives of slavery and emancipation, linking Duke University to the Global South."
Western Carolina University Will Name New Residence Hall After Levern Hamlin Allen
In 1957, Levern Hamlin Allen was the first African-American student to enroll at what is now Western Carolina University and was among the first Black students to be admitted to any of North Carolina's predominantly White state institutions of higher education.
University Students Examine Slavery at Richmond’s Wilton House
Students at Virginia Commonwealth University spent the fall semester studying the enslaved population at Wilton House, the main building at a former, 2,000-acre tobacco plantation.
Saint Elmo Brady Honored With a National Historical Chemical Landmark
Professor Brady was the first African American to earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. He will be honored with plaques at the University of Illinois, where he earned his doctorate, and at schools where he served on the faculty: Fisk University, Tuskegee University, Howard University, and Tougaloo College.
University of California Scholars Update Website on the American Slave Trade
The website houses detailed information on the slave trade from the 16th century to the 19th century The research team updated the site by adding 11,400 records on slave voyages within the Americas.
Furman University in South Carolina Takes Measures to Atone for its Ties to Slavery
The university will change the name of James C. Furman Hall. The building is named after the university's first president who was a slave owner and a strong opponent of abolition. The board of trustees also agreed to erect a statue on campus honoring the university's first Black undergraduate student.
University of Southern Mississippi Acquires Papers of its First African American Faculty Member
In 1970, John Calvin Berry became the first African American faculty member at the university when he was named an instructor of student teaching. He retired from the university in 1985 as an associate professor of educational leadership and research.
College of Charleston Preparing Documentary Film Series on Its Ties to Slavery
Now, like many of its peer institutions that had ties to the institution of slavery, the College of Charleston in South Carolina has begun to more fully examine its history. A documentary film with the title If These Walls Could Talk, is in production and is scheduled for release in the spring.
Virginia Theological Seminary Establishes a Slavery Reparations Endowment Fund
Income from the endowment fund for reparations will be put to use in a variety of ways, from encouraging more African American clergy in the Episcopal Church to directly serving the needs of any descendants of the enslaved Africans who worked at the seminary.
University of Virginia Considering Name Changes for Several Buildings on Campus
Protestors have called on the University of Virginia to change the name of the Alderman Library. It is named after Edward Alderman, president of the university from 1905 to 1931. Alderman was a proponent of eugenics and White supremacy.
University of Oklahoma Acquires the Papers of Activist and Educator George Henderson
The papers span over 40 years of Henderson’s career in higher education. The donation represents the largest gift by an African-American scholar, educator, and activist to the university’s archives.
University of North Florida Students Restore Photographic History of Lincolnville
The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center in St. Augustine, Florida, is showcasing a new exhibit of the photographs of Richard Twine, showing life in the city's African-American neighborhood of Lincolnville about a century ago.
Framingham State University to Honor its First Black Graduate: Mary Miles Bibb
After graduating in 1843, Bibb went on to become one of the first African American woman teachers on the continent. She opened several schools for Black children during a 23-year teaching career in Canada. The university will rename a residence hall in her honor.
The University of Minnesota’s Historical Ties to Slavery
In 1856, the university was struggling financially and received a loan of nearly $15,000 from William Aiken Jr., who at one time owned more than 700 slaves in South Carolina. This money helped build one of the first campus buildings, Old Main.
Stanford University Presented an Interactive Art Exhibit on African American History
The main attraction involved a walk-through of 23 exhibits depicting various scenes throughout history. The exhibit used lights, sounds, smells and trained theater actors to bring these scenes to life.
The Higher Education of Delaware’s First Black Supreme Court Justice
African Americans make up 21 percent of the population in the state of Delaware. Yet until now, the state has never had an African Americans on its highest court. Tamika Montgomery-Reeves recently began her tenure as a justice on the the Delaware Supreme Court.
University of Kentucky to Remove a Large Mural With Demeaning Racial Images
Amidst the nationwide protests in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, Eli Capilouto, president of the University of Kentucky said that the university would remove a Depression-era mural that contains demeaning images of African Americans.
The Archives of Architect Paul Revere Williams Find a New Home
The archives, which include approximately 35,000 plans, 10,000 original drawings, photographs, and other materials, were jointly acquired by the University of Southern California School of Architecture and the Getty Research Institute.
California State University, Dominguez Hills Acquires Massive Archive of Black History
The collection from the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum contains more than 2 million rare books, films, documents, photographs artifacts, and works of art related to the history and culture of African-Americans in the United States, with a significant focus on Southern California and the American West.
University of Virginia Takes Steps to Make its Campus a More Welcoming Place
Jim Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, stated that these "actions that will make this place more clearly and obviously welcoming to all, and where all have an opportunity to thrive.”
University of Pittsburgh Acquires the Extensive Archives of Playwright August Wilson
The collection — more than 450 boxes of materials — document a wide array of August Wilson’s career and interests from the 1960s to 2010s. The noted playwright was born in Pittsburgh in 1945 and called the city home until 1978.
Student Project Details the History of Housing Segregation in Miami
Using a platform that combines maps with narrative text, images, and multimedia content, the students wrote the history of Miami’s segregation, slum clearance, public housing, and gentrification and detailed the tactics used to remove Black residents from their homes and neighborhoods.
Vermont Town Honors a Native Son and America’s First African American College President
In 1856, Martin Henry Freeman was appointed president of the all-Black Allegheny Institute and Mission Church in Pittsburgh, which later became Avery College. Freeman moved to Liberia in 1863 and taught at and later served as president of Liberia College.
Colleges and Universities to Seek a Path Toward Reparations
The Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan is leading a group of college and university scholars in an effort to examine possible avenues to provide reparations for African Americans and Indigenous people.
Rutgers University Acquires the Personal Library of Literary Scholar Cheryl Wall
The Paul Robeson Cultural Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, announced that it has acquired the personal library of Cheryl Wall. The collection includes more than 2,000 volumes. Dr. Wall, who died last spring was the Board of Governors Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English at Rutgers.
Auburn University Honors Two of Its African American Trailblazers
Auburn University in Alabama admitted its first Black student in 1964 under a court order. Recently the university recognized its first Black graduate and the first African American to sit on its board of trustees by naming residence halls in their honor.
New Book to Detail the Work of the Colored Conventions Project
The Colored Conventions Project (CCP) is a scholarly and community research project focused on digitally preserving Black political activism from the 1830s to 1890s. The project operates two websites and its directors are releasing a new book on the initiative.
Consortium of Prestigious Academic Institutions to Collaborate on SlaveVoyages.org
Emory University in Atlanta will now bring in a group of partners to help it maintain and enhance its SlaveVoyages.org project. The website documents nearly 50,000 transatlantic passages of slave ships between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
University of South Florida Debuts New Online Archive on African American History in Florida
The curated collection pulls from decades-old acquisitions and includes unaltered photographs, newspaper archives, and personal narratives. The goal is to continue to build the portal into a larger collection that will help students, educators, researchers, and the general public learn about Black experiences in Florida.
Texas Christian University Examines its Ties to Slavery, the Confederacy, and Racial Segregation
The research revealed that the father of the university's founders owned slaves. The founders did not own slaves, but their upbringing did expose them to slavery and racism. The university’s founders were Confederate soldiers.
