Black History Month

Black History Month: An HBCU A Day (Fort Valley)

Fort Valley State University is a public land grant university born out of the 1890 Morrill Act. It is located in Fort Valley, GA and sits on a beautiful 1,385-acre campus. The school speaks of its own founding, stating, On November 6, 1895, an interracial group of 15 black men— at least half of whom were former slaves— and three white men, petitioned the Superior Court of Houston County, GA to legalize the creation of a school to “promote the cause of mental and manual education in the state of Georgia,” and the Fort Valley High and Industrial School was

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Philander Smith)

Philander Smith University, then Walden Seminary, was founded in 1877 as the result of the first attempt to establish an institution of higher learning for formerly enslaved Black Americans west of the Mississippi River. Philander Smith, the man whom the school is named after passed away in 1882, leaving his wife a $125,000 fortune. Mrs. Adeline Smith’s contribution of $10,500 to then Walden Seminary resulted in its immediate name change to Philander Smith College. The school was chartered as a four-year college on March 3, 1883, and its first baccalaureate degree was conferred in 1888. In August of 2023, Philander

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Simmons)

Simmons College of Kentucky was founded in 1879 by members of the Kentuck State Convention of Colored Baptist Churches. The college speaks of its founding, stating, In 1865, members of the Kentucky State Convention of Colored Baptist Churches proposed the creation of Kentucky’s first post-secondary educational institution dedicated to the education of Black citizens. This bold vision was grounded in faith, self-determination, and the belief that education was essential to the future of Black communities. That vision became reality in 1879, when the Convention purchased four acres of land in Louisville to establish the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute. Chartered

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Oakwood)

Special Note: Black Oakwood University students and faculty have a rich history of protest and fighting tirelessly for their civil rights.  There is much to omit for timeliness and length of the following story of the University’s founding. Oakwood University has a rich history of being a civil rights battleground. The students showed great bravery and intellectual prowess to access the full opportunities of the institution that was made for them. OU has a controversial history regarding its founding. The white founders of the SDA church held typical attitudes befitting the late 1800s toward Black Americans. They adopted a “Principle

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Paul Quinn)

PQC was founded in Austin, Texas in 1872 by a group of AME church members as the Connection School for the Education of Negro Youth. The school moved to Waco, Texas in 1877 and renamed itself “Waco College”. In 1880 while still located in Waco, TX, the school was officially chartered by the state of Texas and renamed Paul Quinn College as a memorial to William Paul Quinn (AME church figure). In 1990, the school relocated to its current location in Dallas, Texas after acquiring the former campus of fallen HBCU, Bishop College. Since 2007, the school has been led

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Livingstone)

Today’s featured HBCU is Livingstone College! It was originally founded in 1879 in Concord, NC and relocated to a 40 acre farm in Salisbury, NC in 1882. Today it occupies a beautiful 272 acres in Salisbury, North Carolina. It has 16 buildings listed with the National Register of Historic Places known as The Livingstone College Historic District. It’s a private institution that currently offers 23 degree programs and grants associates and bachelors degrees. It is home to the Blue Bears and competes in 12 CIAA Division 2 Varsity sports including Basketball, Football, Golf, Cross Country, and Track and Field Indoor

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Coahoma)

Coahoma Community College is one of thirteen 2-year HBCUs! Originally it was founded as Coahoma Country Agricultural High School in 1924 for Black people under the “separate but equal” doctrine. In 1949, the Junior College curriculum was added, and it was renamed Coahoma Junior College and Agricultural High School. The school says of that time period, During the first two years (1949-1950), the junior college program was conducted by one full-­time college director/teacher and a sufficient number of part-time teachers from the high school division. A full-time dean and college faculty were employed in the third year of operation. During

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Florida Memorial)

Florida Memorial University (FMU) was founded in 1879 and is presently located in beautiful Miami Gardens, Florida. It was originally founded in Live Oak, Florida as the Florida Baptist Institute. However, white supremacists did not like the idea of this institution’s existence and unknown suspects shot into one of the school’s buildings. This prompted then President Matthew Gilbert and a few other staff members to flee Live Oak for Jacksonville. They sought to continue their work to educate African Americans and founded Florida Baptist Academy in the basement of a local church. Sarah Ann Blocker was the inaugural instructor. Meanwhile,

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Harris-Stowe)

Harris-Stowe State University is fairly new in name, having gained University status on August 25, 2005. However, the institution has a rich history as a combination of several colleges. The St. Louis Normal School (Harris Teachers College,1857, White Women only) and Sumner Normal School (Stowe Teachers College, 1890, Black Women only) merged to become known as Harris-Stowe College in 1954 after the landmark Brown V. Board of Education decision. In 1979, It was added to the Missouri state system of public higher education under the name Harris-Stowe State College. Male Students have been admitted since 1940. It is the only

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: An HBCU A Day (Tougaloo)

Tougaloo College is located in Jackson, Mississippi and sits on 500 acres of a former plantation along West County Line Road. It was founded in 1869 by The American Missionary Association of New York with the purpose to educate newly freed African Americans. Like many HBCUs founded during this time period, it started out as a place to train African Americans to become teachers. The school writes of its own origins, The roots of Tougaloo’s story stretch back to the freedom struggle aboard La Amistad. In 1846, the American Missionary Association (AMA) was founded from that same abolitionist movement, linking

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