People, Locations, Episodes

Zelia N. Breaux, Music Educator born

*Zelia N. Breaux was born on this date in 1880. She was a Black music instructor and musician who played the trumpet, violin, and piano.  Born Zelia N. Page in Jefferson City, Missouri, she was the daughter of Inman Edward and Zelia Ball Page. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the Lincoln Institute, […]

Nellie Quander, Teacher, and Community Activist born

*Nellie Quander was born on this date in 1880. She was a Black teacher and community activist born in Washington, D.C. Nellie May Quander was the daughter of John Pierson Quander and Hannah Bruce Ford Quander. The Quander family can trace their lineage three hundred years in Maryland and Virginia. They are one of the […]

Southern University, (Louisiana) is Founded

*On this date, in 1880, Southern University was founded. They are among over 90 public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.   Southern University (SUBR) is the largest HBCU in Louisiana, a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and the flagship institution of the Southern University System. Its campus encompasses 512 acres, with an agricultural experimental station on an additional 372-acre site, […]

Willa Townsend, Music Educator born

Willa Townsend was born on this date in 1880. She was an African American educator.

Lillian Bertha Jones Horace, Author, and Educator born

*Lillian Bertha Jones Horace was born on this date in 1880. She was a Black author, educator, and librarian. Lillian Bertha Amstead was born in Jefferson, Texas, to Thomas Amstead and Macey Ackard Matthews; she also had one sister, Etta. The family moved to Fort Worth when Lillian was two years old. Thomas failed to […]

The Hygienic School of Pennsylvania Opens

*The opening of the Hygienic School in 1880 is celebrated on this date. This was a school for Black opened during American Reconstruction.

Started in Steelton, Pennsylvania the Hygienic School received its name from its location on Hygienic Hill, at Bailey Street between Adams and Ridge Streets. Steelton newspaper editor Peter Sullivan Blackwell conceived of the school as a way to provide a quality education for the African American community’s children and give employment for Black schoolteachers, who could not teach in white schools.

George Poage, Olympian, and Teacher born

*George Coleman Poage was born on this date in 1880. He was an African American athlete and teacher.

William Chance, Humanitarian, and Educator born

*William Chance was born on this date in 1880.  He was a Black educator and humanitarian.   William Claudius Chance, Sr., was born in Parmele, North Carolina. His parents were W. V. and Alice Chance, and his grandparents, who raised him, were Bryant and Penethia Chance. All were former slaves. Brought up on a small farm in […]

Hellen Chesnutt, Teacher born

*Helen Chesnutt was born on this date in 1880. She was a Black teacher of Latin and the author of an influential biography and Latin textbook. Helen Maria Chesnutt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her parents were the author Charles Chesnutt, who was said to be the first important Black American novelist, and Susan Perry. […]

Tillotson University Begins Classes

*Tillotson College began education classes on this date in 1881. Now known as Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), it is one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Bishop College, (Texas) is Founded

*Bishop College’s founding is celebrated on this date in 1881. It was a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).   Founded in Marshall, Texas, by the Baptist Home Mission Society, it was intended to serve Black students in east Texas, where most of the Black population lived. Nathan Bishop, the superintendent of several major school systems in New England, started this effort. (then) Baylor University President Rufus C. […]

Spelman College is Founded

This date recalls the 1881 founding of Spelman College. They are one of over 100 historically Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Tuskegee University is Founded

*Tuskegee University was founded on this date in 1881. Located in Tuskegee, Alabama, it is one of over 100 Historical Black Colleges and Universities in America.

The school was founded as a school for Black students by American educator Booker T. Washington. At that time it was called the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. It was renamed Tuskegee Institute in 1937 and adopted its current name in 1985. Tuskegee University awards bachelor’s, master’s, and professional degrees in a variety of fields.

Morristown College is Founded

*This date in 1881 celebrates the founding of Morristown College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Morristown, the seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee. It was founded by the National Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  Before the 20th-century American Civil Rights movement, the college held the distinction of being one […]

Dudley Woodard, Mathematician born

*Dudley Weldon Woodard was born on this date in 1881. He was an African American mathematician.