People, Locations, Episodes

Kentucky State University Opens

The beginning of Kentucky State University (KSU) in 1886 is celebrated on this date. It is one of over 100 Historical Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is Founded

On this date in 1888, Clark Atlanta University was founded. It is one of more than 100 Historical Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Diana McNeil Pierson, Educator born

*On this date in 1888, Diana McNeil Pierson was born. She was an African American educator and missionary.

Norma Boyd, Teacher, and Administrator born

*Norma Boyd was born on this date in 1888. She was a Black teacher, public policy activist, and administrator. Norma Elizabeth Boyd was born and educated in public schools in Washington, D.C. In September 1906, Boyd attended Howard University’s College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in math. It was when only 1/3 of 1% of […]

Mamie Garvin Fields, Teacher and Activist born.

*Mamie Garvin Fields was born on this date in 1888. She was a Black teacher, civil rights and religious activist, and writer. Mamie Elizabeth Garvin was born in Charleston, South Carolina. She was the daughter of George Washington Garvin and Rebecca Mary Logan Bellinger. She attended school at Shaw University and Claflin College. She received […]

George R. Smith College is Founded

*The opening of George is celebrated on this date in 1882.  This was a Historically Black College (HBCU) in Sedalia, Missouri.   African American ragtime-music piano composer Scott Joplin attended it.  The institution was associated with the Freedmen’s Bureau and Southern Education Society of the Methodist Church and played an important role in the lives of young people for several decades.  According to the Encyclopedia of the […]

St. Paul’s Normal and Industrial School of Virginia Opens

*Saint Paul’s Normal and Industrial School opened its doors on this date in 1888. It was a private Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Archdeacon James S. Russell of the Episcopal Church founded St. Paul Normal and Industrial School. It was located in Lawrenceville, Virginia, for training students as agricultural and industrial work teachers. In […]

Hazel M. Walker, Ohio Educator, and Lawyer born

*Hazel Mountain Walker was born on this date in 1889. She was an African American lawyer and educator.

From Warren, Ohio, she was the daughter of Charles and Alice (Bronson) Mountain. Walker attended Cleveland Normal Training School and in 1909 earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Education from Western Reserve University. During the summers, when she was not teaching, Walker worked towards a Law Degree at Baldwin-Wallace College.

The Hungerford School, (Florida) Opens

*The Hungerford School’s establishment in 1889 is celebrated on this date. Modeled after Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute, the Eatonville, Florida school was named after Dr. Robert Hungerford, a white physician living in Maitland who had been teaching reading and writing to local black men.

John Morton-Finney, Lawyer, and Educator born

*John Morton-Finney was born on this date in 1889. He was a Black civil rights activist, lawyer, and educator. Morton Finney was born in Uniontown, Kentucky, to George and Maryatta “Mattie” (Gordon) Finney, a former slave father and a free mother. He was one of the family’s seven children. When his mother died in 1903, […]

Sarah Delany, Educator, and Activist born

*Sarah Delany was born on this date in 1889.  She was a Black educator and activist.  Sarah Louise “Sadie” Delany was born in what was then known as Lynch Station, Virginia, at the home of her mother’s sister, Eliza Logan.  She was the second eldest of ten children born to the Rev. Henry Beard Delany, the first Black Bishop of the […]

Vivian E. J. Cook, Educator born

*Vivian E. J. Cook was born on this date in 1889. She was a Black educator and activist. Vivian Cook, née Johnson, was born in Collierville, Tennessee. Her parents, Caroline Alley and Spencer Johnson were both born into slavery. Caroline Alley became the first African American school teacher in Fayette County, Tennessee, and her four […]

Mordecai Johnson, Educator born

On this date in 1890, Mordecai Johnson was born. He was an African American educator, clergyman, administrator, and public speaker.

Wyatt Mordecai Johnson was born in Paris, TN, the son of a former slave. Johnson learned through his parent’s example the muscle of self-determination, discipline, scholarship, and integrity. His father, a minister and laborer, was a stern man who worked at a mill six days a week, twelve hours a day, for forty years. His mother, Carolyn, offset his father’s firmness with patience and nurturing for her only child.

Blanche Armwood, Educator born

*Blanche Armwood was born on this date in 1890. She was an African American teacher, lawyer and activist.

Court Rules to Desegregate Education in California

On this date in 1890, public schools allowed Blacks to enroll in Visalia, California.

On that date, the California Supreme Court, in Wysinger v. Crookshank, reversed a lower court decision and ordered that 12-year-old Arthur Wysinger be admitted to Visalia’s regular school system.