Chicago State University Receives the Archives of Thomas N. Todd
Thomas N. Todd, known as TNT, for his dynamic speaking skills, was appointed in 1970 as the first full-time Black professor at the Northwestern University School of Law.
Slave Cabin Reopens for Visitors on the Campus of Sweet Briar College
The cabin is one of about two dozen structures that housed slaves on the Sweet Briar Plantation in the pre-Civil War period. It is the only one that remains.
University of South Carolina Exhibit Documents Early Black History on Campus
Included in the exhibit are documents that show how slaves were used on campus during the antebellum period and photographs and other materials on a brief period during Reconstruction when Blacks students and faculty were on campus.
Winthrop University Scholar Discovers the Identity of an Early Black Woman Novelist
Gregg Hecimovich, chair of the English department at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has discovered new evidence on the identity of the author who is believe to have written the earliest novel by an African American woman.
MIT Scholar Examines Colleges’ Ties to Slavery
Craig S. Wilder, a professor of history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the author of a fascinating new book that details the relationships of American colleges and universities with the institution of slavery.
Florida State University Artisans Honor Local Civil Rights Heroes
Artists at the Master Craftsman Studio at Florida State University made 16 terrazzo panels, weighing between 800 and 2,000 pounds, that have been embedded in a city sidewalk to honor local civil rights activists of the 1950s and 1960s.
Honoring a Key Figure in Efforts to Racially Integrate the University of Delaware
The University of Delaware recently held a ceremony on campus to dedicate a dormitory to honor the memory of Louis L. Redding. He successfully argued the 1950 court case that led to the admission of African American students to the university.
University of South Carolina Creates Exhibit to Honor Its First Black Faculty Member
The University of South Carolina has recently acquired and placed on displayed the law school diploma of Richard Theodore Greener its first Black faculty member who taught philosophy, Greek, and Latin during the Reconstruction period.
Historical Milestone at St. Augustine’s University
Nita Charlene Johnson Byrd is the first woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest in St. Augustine University's chapel and the first woman to serve as chaplain of the university.
New Mexico State University Honors Its President and an Early Black Football Star
Pervis Atkins' number 27 football uniform was retired but was briefly "unretired" on Saturday so the university could present a uniform jersey to Garrey Carruthers, the 27th president of the university.
New Online Archive of the Papers of Klan Infiltrator Stetson Kennedy
During the 1940s, Kennedy infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia and exposed their rituals and beliefs in a 1954 book. The collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, files, fliers, pamphlets, and photographs.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
