People, Locations, Episodes

Wilberforce University is Founded

This date marks the founding of Wilberforce University in 1856. The school is a private, coeducational institution affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

On this date, application was made to the authorities of Greene County and the State of Ohio under the name of “The Wilberforce University.” Wilberforce University is named to honor the British Abolitionist, Sir William Wilberforce.

Maria L. Baldwin, Educator born

Maria Louise Baldwin, a Black teacher, was born on this date in 1856.

Maaria Baldwin was the oldest daughter of Peter L. and Mary E. Baldwin of Cambridge, MA, where she spent all of her school days. At the age of five, she entered the Sargent Primary School, attended the Allston Grammar School, and finally the Cambridge High School, graduating in 1874.

Mary Graham, Teacher born

*Mary Graham’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1857. She was a Black Teacher and journalist.   Mary Henrietta Graham was born in Windsor, Ontario, to a white Englishwoman mother (Sarah) and a Black father (Levi) from Illinois. She was the second oldest of at least four children and was nicknamed “Mollie.”  At some […]

James Solomon Russell, Deacon, and Administrator born

*James Solomon Russell was born on this date in 1857. He was a Black teacher, minister, and administrator. James Russell was born to Araminta, an enslaved woman on the Hendrick plantation in Mecklenburg County, VA. His enslaved father, Solomon Russell, worked on the Russell plantation in Warren County, North Carolina. After the Union victory in […]

Anna Evans Murray, Educator, and Child Advocate, born

*Anna Evans Murray’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1857. She was a Black civic leader, educator, and early advocate for training kindergarten teachers. Anna Evans was born in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1857. She was one of eight children of Henry Evans, a Black undertaker and cabinetmaker, and Henrietta Leary Evans, a woman of […]

Henry Cheatham, Educator, and Congressman born

On this date in 1857, Henry Plummer Cheatham was born. He was a Black politician and a member of the House of Representatives in North Carolina.

Frank M. Boyer, Community Visionary born

*Frank Boyer was born on this date in 1858. He was a Black settler and teacher. Francis Marion Boyer was born in Washington County, Missouri, the son of Henry Boyer, a freedman from Pullam, Georgia. His father was a wagoner with the army units during the Mexican-American War. As a child, he heard stories about […]

Fannie Washington, Tuskegee Educator born

The birth of Fannie Norton Smith Washington in 1858 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American educator and activist.

Born in Malden, West Virginia, she was the daughter of Samuel and Cecilia Smith. She knew Booker T. Washington for most of her life. As one of his pupils, she gained admission to Hampton Institute, but left it in 1878, for lack of money. Smith then taught school for two years near Malden, walking three miles daily and tending to her mother’s needs after school. Smith graduated in 1880 and married Booker T. Washington that summer.

Rosa Kinckle Jones, Music Teacher born

*The birth of Rosa Kinckle Jones is marked on this date in 1858. She was a Black music teacher.   Rosa Daniel Kinckle was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, to free black parents.  Jones attended that city’s public school until 1877 when she left for Howard University, from which she graduated with honors in 1880.  She devoted the first years of her […]

The Witherspoon School For The Colored Opens

*The Witherspoon School for the Colored is celebrated on this date in 1858.  This was a school for Blacks that operated before the American Civil War. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, it opened its doors on a building on the corner of Maclean and Witherspoon Streets. One of the teachers was Betsey Stockton. She was […]

William Morris Sr., Lawyer, and Professor, born

 *This date in 1859 is celebrated as the birth date of William R. Morris, Sr., a Black professor and lawyer. William Richard Morris was born into slavery in Flemingsburg, KY. He was the son of Hezekiah (a slave) and Elizabeth Hopkins Morris (free) and the brother of Edward H. Morris. Hezekiah bought his freedom and […]

Horace R. Cayton Sr., News Publisher born

*The birth of Horace Cayton Sr. in 1859 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American newspaper publisher and political activist.

James Dudley, Educator and Administrator born.

*James Dudley was born on this date in 1859. He was a Black educator and administrator. James Benson Dudley was born into slavery; his parents were owned by Edward B. Dudley, the Governor of North Carolina from 1836 to 1841. Dudley took education to heart, affecting his approach for the rest of his life. Because […]

Josephine Silone Yates, STEM Professor born

*Josephine Silone Yates was born on this date in 1859.  She was a Black chemist, journalist, and educator.   Josephine Silone was the second daughter of Alexander and Parthenia Reeve Silone and was born in Mattituck, NY. During her childhood, her family lived with her maternal grandfather, a freed slave, Lymas Reeves. Her mother taught […]

Victoria Matthews, Educator, and Writer born

On this date in 1861, Victoria Matthews, an African American educator, writer, and advocate for Black people, was born.