People, Locations, Episodes

Nathan A. Murray, Biology Teacher and Librarian born

*Nathanial Allison Murray was born on this date in 1884. He was a Black teacher and librarian. From Washington, D.C., his parents were educators Daniel Alexander Payne Murray and Anna Jane Evans Murray. His father, Daniel, was one of the first African American librarians for the Library of Congress and was considered a leading authority on the […]

Arkansas Baptist College is Founded

*The founding of Arkansas Baptist College (ABC) is celebrated on this date in 1884.  Arkansas Baptist College is a private, historically Black liberal arts college  (HBCU) in Little Rock, Arkansas. Founded as the Minister’s Institute, ABC was initially funded by the Colored Baptists of the State of Arkansas. It is the only historically Black Baptist […]

Mary Edwards Hunter, Community Educator born

*Mary Edwards Hunter was born on this date in 1885. She was a Black teacher, extension agent, and advocate for women and children. Mary Evelyn Virginia Edwards was born in Fitchburg, Alabama, the fifteenth of seventeen children of Elijah E. and Frances (Moore) Edwards. While still a girl, she became the bookkeeper for her father’s […]

Charles Brown, Teacher born

*Charles Brown was born on this date in 1885. He was a Black teacher and one of the founders of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Charles Ignatius Brown was born in Pittsburgh, PA. Census records show that his father was Rev. John M. Brown, and his mother was Maggie M. Brown. His father also lived […]

Mamie E. Scurlock, Educator born

*On this date, in 1885, Mamie E. Scurlock was born.  She was a Black educator and business manager.   Born Mamie Estelle Fearing was from Washington, D.C.   Before managing her husband’s photographic studio, she taught elementary education in the D.C. District and Baltimore schools.   She married Addison N. Scurlock in 1925, beginning a 52-year association with Washington’s preeminent Black photo studio. The […]

Morris Brown College is Founded

*On this date in 1885, Morris Brown College in Atlanta was founded. It is one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Mary Loraine Europe, Pianist, and Teacher born

*Mary Loraine Europe’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1885. She was a Black pianist, organist, and music educator.  Born in Mobile, Alabama, Mary Loraine Europe was a daughter of Henry J. Europe and Loraine (Saxon) Europe. Her father was a native of Alabama and a devoted Baptist Church of Mobile member. Her mother […]

Clara Belle Williams, Educator born

*The birth of Clara Belle Williams in 1885 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American educator.

Florence Read, College Administrator born

*Florence Read was born on this date in 1885. She was a white-American college president. From Delevan, New York, Florence Matilda Read was the daughter of William Ervin Read and Cornelia Minerva Waldo; she had a brother, Harry. Read received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1909 and served as alumnae secretary. In 1911, […]

The St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind Opens

*This date in 1885 celebrates the opening of the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB), a state-supported boarding school for deaf and blind children established in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1882, Thomas Hines Coleman, a young deaf man, was preparing to graduate from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the only college […]

Willis N. Huggins, Educator born

*Willis Huggins was born on this date in 1886.  He was a Black historian, teacher, and social activist. He was among the earliest proponents of teaching African and African American history in American schools.   Willis Nathaniel Huggins was born in Selma, Alabama; his father, Reverend A. Z. Huggins, was a Baptist minister. Huggins received his first education at the Selma Training School as a youth. […]

Virginia University of Lynchburg is Founded

*The founding of Virginia University of Lynchburg (VUL) is celebrated on this date in 1886.  VUL is a private, historically Black Christian University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The university offers instruction and degrees, primarily in religious studies, including a Doctor of Ministry program. The campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Virginia University of Lynchburg is […]

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is Founded

*The University of Maryland Eastern was founded on this date in 1886,. It is one of over 100 Historical Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Opened through the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, UMES began with nine students and one faculty. 37 students were enrolled by the end of the first year. Its first name was the Industrial Branch of Morgan State College. It was renamed the Eastern Shore Branch of the Maryland Agricultural College in 1919. In 1948, the school became Maryland State College, a Division of the University of Maryland.

Alain Locke, Philosopher, and Educator born

This date marks the birth of Alain Locke in 1885. He was an African American philosopher, intellectual, and educator, and credited with defining the Harlem Renaissance.

Born into Philadelphia’s Black elite, Alain Leroy Locke was the only child of an established free Black family. By high school, he was an accomplished pianist and violinist. In 1907, Locke received a B.A. in philosophy magna cum laude from Harvard.

Princess Anne Academy Begins Classes

*This date in 1886, marks the origin of Princess Anne Academy. This was one of the schools for Blacks that paved the way towards America’s many Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Founded as the Delaware Conference Academy, it can be found in Princess Anne on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, this school was organized by Morgan College.