Little Known Black History Facts
One of the least-known names in music history is a Waco, Texas native named Tom Wilson. Tom Wilson was a black Harvard graduate, a DJ and producer who was described as a “Do-It-Yourself” man, who designed album covers, took photographs, and provided liners. In 1954, he started his own record label, Transition Records. One of […]
The 25th dynasty of Egypt dates back to 746 to 653 BC. This was also the dynasty known as the “Kings of Kush.” The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient African kingdom that flowed along what is now the Republic of Sudan. The Kings of Kush ruled as Pharaohs and believed that they were the […]
In 1876, black inventor Lewis H. Latimer drew up designs for an invention made by a colleague who was a teacher of the deaf. That teacher’s name was Alexander Graham Bell and the design was for the telephone. Latimer’s design with Bell’s idea was submitted on Valentine’s Day, 1876, only two hours before another inventor, […]
Russell “Maroon” Shoatz is a former Black Panther Party (BPP) member now serving two life sentences. Shoatz helped to found a revolutionist organization called the Black Unity Council in 1969. From August 1970 to January 1972, Shoatz was an active underground member of the Black Liberation Army, born from the BPP. Then in 1970, Shoatz […]
On December 20, 2013, the Senate confirmed African American Vice Admiral Michelle Howard as the U.S. Navy’s first ever female four-star admiral. Howard is not only the first woman but the first black person to be named the Navy’s new Vice Chief of Naval Operations. Vice Admiral Howard began making history in 1999 when she […]
In 1997, at the urging of then Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Bass-Levin, Joyce Alexander Walker became the first African American elected to the Cherry Hill Township Council in New Jersey. She was already active on the township planning board and was a member of the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association. A Princeton and Rutgers-Newark […]
Fifteen-year-old African American tennis player Francis Tiafoe of College Park, Maryland has become the youngest winner in the 67-year history of the Metropolia Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship. Some of the best adult players in men’s tennis have claimed victory in the 18-and-under championship: John McEnroe, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Bjorn Borg and Andy Roddick. […]
When the State Normal College for Colored Youth in Tallahassee, Florida was founded in 1887 by Thomas V.R. Gibbs, he and the other educators probably didn’t expect that the student body would quickly outgrow the campus at an exponential rate. Some students had to live off campus in host private homes for several years, not […]
Fisk University of Nashville, Tennessee was founded in 1865 by John Ogden, Reverend Erastus Cravath, and Reverend Edward Smith. It was named after General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedman’s Bureau. The school held its first classes in 1866 at the Union army barracks with students ranging from ages seven to seventy. It had […]
To complete the trifecta of HBCUs in the Atlanta University Center Consortium (including Spelman, Morehouse), Atlanta University was founded in 1865 by the American Missionary Association. The other half of the institution, Clark College, was founded in 1869. Clark was named after Bishop Davis W. Clark, who was the first president of the Freedmen’s Aid […]
Spelman College was founded on April 11, 1881 by two teachers in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. After money is gifted from John D. Rockefeller, the seminary for teachers is moved to its current grounds. The all-women’s school is named after Laura Spelman Rockefeller, the daughter of anti-slavery activists. In 1888, […]
Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama is the first black college to be considered a registered national historic landmark and the only to be declared a national historic site. Tuskegee University was founded in 1881 as Tuskegee Institute, in a one room shack, with Dr. Booker T. Washington presiding over the class of 30 students. Dr. […]
