Carter Godwin Woodson was born on this date in 1875. He was an African American writer, educator and historian.
Born to a poor family in Buckingham County, Virginia, Woodson supported himself by working in the coal mines of Kentucky as a teenager and was, as a consequence, unable to enroll in high school until he was 20. After graduating in less than two years, he taught high school, wrote articles, studied at home and abroad, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912. Woodson also studied at Berea College and the University of Chicago.
learn more*Grace Morris Allen Jones was born on this date in 1876. She was a Black educator, school administrator, clubwoman, and writer. Grace Morris Allen was born in Keokuk, Iowa, to James Addison Morris and Mary Ellen Morris, née Pyles. The family was educated and well-off financially. Grace’s grandmother was abolitionist Charlotta Gordon Pyles, and she […]
learn more*Charles Chapman was born on this date in 1876. Chapman was a Black educator and advocate for agribusiness. Born in Cayuga County, New York, he studied at Howard and Cornell University. Chapman was one of the seven founders (commonly referred to as Jewels) of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. During the organizational stages of […]
learn moreThis date celebrates the founding of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. It is one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America.
Meharry Medical College was founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College of Nashville , under the auspices of the Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1900, Central Tennessee College became Walden University, and by 1915, the college gained a separate corporate existence from the university.
learn moreEartha Mary Magdalene White was born on this date in 1876. She was an African American vocalist, educator, administrator, and humanitarian.
learn more*Blanche Wilkins Williams was born on this date in 1876. She was a Black teacher and disability advocate specializing in educating the deaf through the intersectionality of self. She was the daughter of Charles Wilkins and Estelle Griffin Wilkins, both from North Carolina, and was from Lacrosse, WI. Wilkins was the first deaf Black woman […]
learn more*On this date in 1877, Jackson State University (JSU) was founded. It is a public Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Located in Jackson, Mississippi. The university is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth-largest in Mississippi. The university is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. It is classified as a research university with high research activity. Jackson State […]
learn more*Ulrich Phillips was born on this date in 1877. He was a white-American historian who outlined the social and economic history of the Antebellum South and American chattel slavery. From Atlanta, Georgia, Ulrich Bonnell Phillips concentrated on the large plantations that dominated the Southern economy, and he did not investigate the numerous small farmers who held slaves. He concluded that […]
learn more*On this date in 1877, We salute Philander Smith College. Philander Smith College is a private historically black college (HBCU) in Little Rock, Arkansas. They are affiliated with the United Methodist Church, are a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), and are accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Philander Smith College was officially founded under Walden Seminary […]
learn more*Prairie View A&M University was founded on this date in 1878. They are a comprehensive public institution of higher education.
Its doors opened, enrolling eight young men, on this date. Prairie View A&M is one of the over 100 historically Black college and universities in America. Part of the Texas A&M University System, Prairie View A&M was founded in 1876, the first year of the Texas constitution. It is a land-grant university authorized under the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
learn more*Mary Montgomery Booze’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1878. She was a Black teacher and public policy administrator. Mary Cordelia Montgomery was born in Mound Bayou, MS., to parents who had been enslaved when she was young. She grew up in the Mississippi Delta. Her father, Isaiah T. Montgomery, was a cotton producer politically allied […]
learn more*Selma University’s founding is celebrated on this date in 1878. It is a private, historically Black Baptist Bible college (HBCU). It is located in Selma, Alabama, and is affiliated with the Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention. The institution was founded as the Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological Seminary to train African Americans as ministers and teachers. Mansfield Tyler was its first administrator. […]
learn moreThis date marks the birth of William S. Beaumont Braithwaite in 1878. He was an African American author.
He was born in Boston to an immigrant from British Guiana and the daughter of a former slave. He was educated at home until 1884, when his father’s death left the family impoverished. Braithwaite attended public school but left at 12 to work and help his family. He worked for several people before settling into an errand boy job with the publishing firm of Ginn & Co., where he soon became an apprentice and compositor.
learn more*Artemisia Bowden was born on this date in 1879. She was a Black school administrator and civil rights activist. Artemisia Bowden was born in Albany, Georgia, to former slaves Milas and Mary Bowden. She was the oldest of four children, and in her early life, she grew up in Brunswick, Georgia. There, she attended Athanasius’ […]
learn more*Effie Waller Smith was born on this date in 1879. She was an African American educator and poet.
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