Northeastern University Team Digs Into Jim Crow-Era Cold Case Murders
All six victims were murdered by White men who were later not prosecuted for their crimes. Three of the Black men were killed by police officers.
The Noisy Controversy Over Silent Sam
Last week the Silent Sam statue honoring soldiers who fought for the Confederacy on the campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s was torn down by protestors during a rally. But it appears that the controversy is far from over.
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.
Bryn Mawr College Takes Action to Confront the Racism of a Former President
M. Carey Thomas served as the second president of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania from 1884 to 1922. During this period she refused to admit Black students and refused to hire Jewish faculty.
Tuskegee University Receives the Photographic Archives of Prentice H. Polk
Prentice H. Polk was one of the most influential photographers of his time. Much of Polk’s work was centered around Tuskegee Institute, and celebrated family life, national and local elite individuals, and specific events occurring on campus.
Oregon State University Changes Building Names That Honored Proponents of Slavery
Last fall, Edward Ray, president of Oregon State University, announced that the university would change the names of three buildings on campus because the people for whom the buildings had been named had expressed support for the institution of slavery. The university recently announced the name changes.
Princeton University Brings HBCU Students to Campus to Garner Interest in Archival Research
Last month, Princeton University in New Jersey held its inaugural Archives Research and Collaborative (ARCH) program on campus. Fourteen students from five historically Black colleges and universities spent five days on the Princeton campus with the goal of interesting them in careers in archives research.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Aim to Preserve Slave Records
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has undertaken a research project entitled "People Not Property." The goal of the project is to digitize slave deeds in 26 counties across North Carolina. These deeds contain information about the slaves' names, age, family, and skills.
University of Virginia to Launch a Crowdsourced Transcription Effort of Julian Bond’s Papers
On August 15, individuals who join the transcription effort will be asked to go to five locations in Charlottesville where they will transcribe some of Bond's speeches. People interested in participating in the transcription effort will also be able to contribute to the project online.
Rice University’s New Archive on Texas’ Convict Leasing System
The system routinely leased out prisoners to local plantations and other private landowners, where they were worked under horrendous conditions. Large numbers of these leased prisoners were African Americans.
Newark Campus of Rutgers University Honors Frederick Douglass
On April 17, 1849, Frederick Douglass delivered an address at the First African Presbyterian Church in Newark, New Jersey. The church, which no longer exists, was located on the current site of the university's athletic fields. The fields now have been named to honor Frederick Douglass.
Florida State University to Remove Name of Segregationist Judge From Its Law School
President John Thrasher will recommend to the legislature that the name of the B.K. Roberts College of Law be changed. Roberts was a founder of the law school and was a member of the Florida Supreme Court. He wrote several pro-segregation opinions during the 1950s.
College of William and Mary to Erect Marker at Site of Early School for...
In 1760, the Associates of Dr. Bray, a London-based charity opened a school for enslaved and free Black children on the campus of the College of William and Mary in Wiliamsburg, Virginia. The college will place a historical marker at the site where the school is believed to have been located.
Project Aims to Expand Research on Obscure African American Novels
The Black Book Interactive Project at the University of Kansas is building the first searchable digital collection of previously unavailable and understudied African-American novels. Maryemma Graham, University Distinguished Professor of English, is overseeing the project.
University of Missouri Names Building After a Black Woman It Had Rejected for Admission...
In 1939, Lucile Bluford, who had worked as a journalist for several newspapers, applied for admission to the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She was accepted for admission but later was turned away when university officials saw the color of her skin.
University of Utah Debuts New Online Archive on the History of Blacks in the...
The digital history database - Century of Black Mormons - documents Black participation in the Church of Latter-day Saints between 1830 and 1930.
University of Pennsylvania Research Uncovers Its Early Ties to Slavery
Research has shown that no fewer than 75 of the university’s early trustees owned at least one enslaved person. The labor of enslaved people was used to support and care for Penn faculty and students.
Building That Honored a Leader of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment to Be Renamed
The building, named for former U.S. Surgeon General Thomas Parren, is home to many of the programs of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh.
Harvard University Acquires the Family Papers of Professor Patricia J. Williams
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University has acquired the archives of the family of Patricia J. Williams, the James L. Dohr Professor at the Columbia University School of Law. The archives include 65 boxes of family documents going back more than a century.
“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.
Rutgers University-Newark Acquires the Archives of Jazz Legend Count Basie
The Count Basie Collection includes his pianos, Hammond organ, photos, correspondence, concert programs, business records, housewares and press clippings. Nearly 1,000 artifacts are included in the collection.
Baylor University Is Preserving the Recordings of the Golden Age of Black Gospel
These early Black gospel recordings - containing valuable history and culture - are rapidly disappearing. The Baylor University project seeks to preserve as many as these recording as possible in digital format.
UVA Appoints Members for Its Commission on the University in the Age of Segregation
The University of Virginia's Commission on the University in the Age of Segregation is being chartered for four years and will examine the university’s history during this period and make recommendations for appropriate action in recognition of this history.
Boston College Scholars Honored for Their Work on African American Lawyer Robert Morris
Three scholars at Boston College Law School have won an award from the American Association of Law Libraries for their catalog that accompanied the exhibit "Robert Morris: Lawyer and Activist." Morris was the second Black lawyer in the United States.
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.
Alabama Makes Amends to Students It Expelled From Alabama State 58 Years Ago
On February 25, 1960, a group of Black students at Alabama State University participated in a sit-in at a racially segregated lunch counter at the Montgomery County Courthouse. Nine were expelled. Now the state has expunged the records of those disciplined in 1960.
Oberlin College to Name Its Main Library to Honor Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell, was born in in 1863, the daughter of former slaves. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1884 and went on to become an educator, author, civil rights leader, and feminist activist.
Princeton University Offers a Walking Tour of Its African American History
Princeton University in New Jersey is developing as series of campus walking tours entitled "Making Visible What Has Been Invisible.” The first of these walking tours is entitled "Stories of African American Life at Princeton."
The First Book by Zora Neale Hurston Has Been Published 87 Years After It...
The book had not been published previously due to the heavily accented dialogue that makes it difficult to read for many people. The manuscript had been tucked away in the archives at Howard University for several decades.
Commission Examines History of Washington & Lee University and Makes Recommendations
First and foremost, the commission recommended that the name of the university not be changed despite the fact that George Washington was a slave owner and Robert E. Lee was a slave owner and led the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
Emory University Acquires the Archives of Noted African American Dance Couple
The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University in Atlanta, has acquired the papers of dancers and married couple Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder.
Princeton University Looks to Diversify its Collection of Portraits
Portraits of Nobel prize winner Toni Morrison and Sir Arthur Lewis have been added to the university's collection. Eight other portraits have been commissioned. Three of the new portraits will feature African Americans.
St. Cloud State University in Minnesota Names Building After Its First Black Graduate
Ruby Cora Webster, the daughter of former slaves, earned a degree in elementary education at what was then called St. Cloud Normal School in 1909.
Salem College in North Carolina Examines Its Historical Ties to Slavery
A new report finds that two enslaved African American students attended the school in the late eighteenth century and that officials at the institution bought and sold slaves and rented them to work on campus.
New Memorial Honoring the African American Victims of Lynchings Opens in Alabama
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, is a project of the Equal Justice Institute and honors the more than 4,000 African Americans who were lynched between 1877 and 1950.
University of California, Santa Barbara Receives the Papers of Civil Rights Activist Shirley Kennedy
Dr. Kennedy first came to the University of California, Santa Barbara, as a student in 1969. She began teaching at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1987 as a lecturer in Black studies.
