People, Locations, Episodes

Bowie State University is Founded

*On this date, 1865, Bowie State University (BSU) was founded. Bowie State University is a public historically black university (HBCU) in Prince George’s County, Maryland, north of Bowie. It is part of the University System of Maryland. Bowie State is Maryland’s oldest HBCU and one of the ten oldest in America. Bowie State is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.   Bowie State […]

Lincoln College is Founded

*Lincoln College was founded on this date in 1865. It is a private HBCU college in Lincoln, Illinois, with roots dating back to the 19th century. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church established it but is now independent and has no formal church affiliation. A few other sites were possibilities for the institution; however, in December 1864, […]

Robert S. Wilkinson, Educator and Administrator born.

*Robert S. Wilkinson was born on this date in 1865. He was a Black educator and administrator. Robert Shaw Wilkinson was born to Charles and Lavinia A. Wilkinson in Charleston, South Carolina. He attended the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston. 1884, Wilkinson was appointed to West Point Military Academy but failed to pass the physical […]

Margaret Murray, Educator born

*On this date in 1865, Margaret Murray was born. She was an African American educator and clubwoman.

Central Tennessee College is Founded

*On this date in 1865, we celebrate Central Tennessee College.  This was a historically black college (HBCU) in Nashville, Tennessee, founded by missionaries on behalf of the Methodist Church to serve freedmen.   In 1876, the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College was established as the first medical school for Blacks in the South. In 1900, […]

Virginia Union University is Founded

*On this date, in 1865, Virginia Union University (VUU) was founded. This is a private, historically black university (HBCU) in Richmond, Virginia. It changed its name in 1899 after merging two older schools, Richmond Theological Institute and Wayland Seminary. Both were founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society after the end of the American Civil War. In 1932, Hartshorn Memorial College, a […]

Western University (Kansas) is Founded

*The founding of Western University (Kansas) is celebrated on this date in 1865. This was a historically black college (HBCU) established as the Quindaro Freedmen’s School.   Located in Quindaro, Kansas, it was the earliest school for Blacks west of the Mississippi River and the only one in Kansas. The town was founded in 1856 by […]

Janie Barrett, Educator, and Welfare Worker born

*On this date, Janie Porter Barrett was born in 1865. She was an African American welfare worker and educator. Barrett developed a school to rehabilitate previously incarcerated African American girls by improving their self-reliance and discipline.

Storer College Begins Classes

*As Fall semesters begin in America, we celebrate the founding of Storer College on this date in 1865.    Storer College was a historically black college (HBCU) located in Harpers Ferry in Jefferson County, West Virginia. Originally sent up as a normal school to train black teachers, it operated until 1955.  The school was established after the American Civil War with the help of philanthropic Baptists from […]

Gregory W. Hayes, Education Administrator born.

*Gregory W. Hayes was born on this date in 1865. He was a Black education administrator and activist. Gregory Willis Hayes was born in Alameda County, Virginia, and graduated from Oberlin College. In 1891, he became the second president of the Virginia Seminary, which he led until he died. His wife, Mary Rice Hayes Allen, […]

The Avery Normal Institute is Founded

The founding of Avery Normal Institute in 1865 is celebrated on this date. Located in Charleston, SC, Avery Normal Institute was a nationally recognized African American educational institution that trained young adults in professional careers and leaderships roles for nearly 100 years.

The Abraham Lincoln School opens.

*The Abraham Lincoln School opened on this date in 1865. This school was for freedmen after the American Civil War. It was in New Orleans, LA., on the campus of the University of Louisiana (predecessor to Tulane University). It opened under the supervision of Rev. Thomas W. Conway, an assistant commissioner of the Freedmen Bureau. Attendance was […]

Talladega College is Founded

*Talladega College was founded on this date in 1865. It is a private Historically Black College (HBCU) in Talladega, Alabama, and Alabama’s oldest private HBCU. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredits it. Talladega College’s history began when three former slaves, William Savery, Thomas Tarrant, and Ambrose Headen of Talladega, met at the convention with […]

Shaw University is Founded

On this date in 1865, Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, a private, coeducational institution, was founded. Shaw is the first Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU) founded in the South, and one of over 100 in the America.

Fisk University Begins Classes

Fisk University in Nashville, TN, was founded on this date in 1866.

American prohibitionist Clinton Bowen Fisk, the American Missionary Association of New York, and the Western Freedman’s Aid Commission of Cincinnati established the school as the Fisk School for Freedmen.

Fisk awards bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a wide range of fields. A joint degree in engineering is offered in cooperation with other universities, including Vanderbilt, Florida A&M, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.