Ruby Middleton Forsythe was born on this date in 1905. She was an African American educator from Charleston, SC.
Middleton earned her license of education instruction certificate Avery Institute, which had been created in 1865, in 1921. Avery Institute for grammar and high school Avery epitomized excellence and provided its students with the best liberal education and cultural experience. She received her BS from South Carolina State College and started her teaching career in 1924 in Mount Pleasant’s Laing School, run by the American Missionary Society.
learn more*The Harlem YWCA in New York City was founded on July 7, 1905. The community’s founders were well connected to the networks of religious and practical organizations developed in Harlem, significantly as the number of Black citizens increased. During the Great Migration, this YWCA was essential in developing training and careers for young Black women […]
learn more*On this date in 1905, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture opened. This is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide.
learn more*This date celebrates its founding of Miles College in 1905. It is one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in America.
Located in Birmingham, Alabama it is a private liberal arts institution with a proud history of producing teachers, preachers, community leaders and politicians. Miles College is a Christian Methodist Episcopal Church-related, four-year institution that points to an emphasis on the personal development of all individuals, regardless of race. Former students possess an understanding of their own mission in a global society.
learn more*Miriam Matthews was born on this date in 1905. She was an African American historian, activist and lecturer.
From Pensacola, Florida, she was one of three children born to Ruben and Fannie (Elijah) Matthews. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was a baby. Matthews received her A. B. from the University of California in 1926 and her certificate of librarians hip one year later. She was the first African American librarian in the Los Angeles Public Library system where she worked from 1927 to 1960, both as a branch librarian and as a supervisor of 12 branch libraries.
learn moreOn this date in 1905, the Western Library of Louisville, KY, opened.
Founded by Albert Ernest Meyzeek, it was the first library to serve Louisville’s Black community, and one of the first of its kind in America. Western’s first librarian was Thomas Fountain Blue, Sr., who was assisted by Ms. Rachel Harris. Joseph S. Cotter, poet and playwright, was involved with its early programs and is credited with the early storytelling contests for young people.
learn more*On this date in 1905, we celebrate the founding of Butler College, a coeducational Black school in Tyler, Texas. Established by the East Texas Baptist Association, the school was originally called the East Texas Baptist Academy and was initially a combined elementary and high school. In the 1920s, the school introduced college-level courses. Following the […]
learn more*Aline Black was born on this date in 1906. She was an African American educator and activist.
Aline Elizabeth Black was from Norfolk, VA; she attended Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute (later Virginia State University). Black began working in the local school system as a science instructor in 1924. While teaching and continued her education at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she received an M.S. in 1935.
learn more*Theodora Boyd was born on this date in 1906. She was an African American writer and educator.
learn more*Lena King Lee was born on this date in 1906. She was a Black educator and attorney who entered politics at 60 and became one of the first Black women elected to the Maryland General Assembly. She was born Lena King in Sumter County, Alabama, one of three children of Samuel Sylvester King and Lula Gully King. Her father […]
learn more*Lawrence Knox was born on this date in 1906. He was a Black Chemist and teacher. Lawrence Howland Knox was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was the son of William Knox. He had four siblings, two sisters and two brothers. In the 1820s, his grandfather, Elijah Knox, was born in North Carolina to a […]
learn more*Jay Saunders Redding was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American professor of English, an author, and literary critic.
The New York Times once called him “probably the most eminent Negro writer of nonfiction in the country.” From Wilmington, Delaware, he was the third of seven children growing up in a middle class predominantly white neighborhood. Redding went to Howard High School, doing extremely well in journalism, debate, basketball, drama, and speech. His mother died at this time and after graduating, he went to college in Pennsylvania.
learn more*Virgil Blossom was born on this date in 1906. He was a white-American educator and administrator. Born in Brookfield, Missouri, the son of George N. Blossom and Fannie M. Blossom, Virgil T. Blossom had one sister. His father ran a construction business and served as the local tax collector. His mother was a homemaker. Blossom […]
learn moreAlpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was founded on this date in 1906. The fraternity was the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., has supplied voice and vision to the struggle of African Americans and people of color around the world. It was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of brotherhood among African descendants in this country.
learn more*Corinthian Nutter was born on this date in 1906. She was a Black teacher, musician, and education activist. Corinthian Clay Ricks (her birth name) was born in Forney, Texas, to Robert R. and Roxie Anna (Ford) Ricks. Her father worked for the railroad. Her mother was an itinerant worker, and Nutter was frequently taken out […]
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