The following are short descriptions of the major institutions which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Founded in 1816, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, the oldest continuously operating African American church in Washington DC, is located at 1334 29th Street NW. The Georgetown community where the church now sits, was a central port for slave and tobacco trading in the early … Read MoreMount Zion United Methodist Church (1816- )
Galloway United Methodist Church (UMC) in Falls Church, Virginia, was founded in 1867 by George and Harriet Brice, who are buried in the historic graveyard on site. The Brices had escaped slavery and according to the U.S. Federal Census of 1850 were free blacks living … Read MoreGalloway United Methodist Church (1867- )
In 1966 Huey Newton and Bobby Seale created the Black Panther Party (BPP) to fight police oppression of blacks in Oakland, California. Two years later the BPP started Peoples’ Free Medical Clinics (PFMC) because of systemic discrimination against blacks in hospitals and private medical practices. … Read MoreBlack Panther Party’s Free Medical Clinics (1969-1975)
Vernon African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is located at 311 North Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Vernon is the only remaining edifice from the worst race massacre in American history in 1921 and the only black-owned structure from the Historic Black Wall Street era. It … Read MoreVernon African Methodist Episcopal Church (1905- )
The Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) was a civil rights organization based in the capital city of Tennessee. The NCLC was created on January 18, 1958 following a meeting by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia where a Nashville representative was in attendance. … Read MoreNashville Christian Leadership Council (1958-1964)
The Tent Cities of Fayette and Haywood Counties in Tennessee were the result of early efforts to register African American voters in those counties between 1959 and 1962. When John McFerren of Fayette County and other activists began their voter registration drive, many of the … Read MoreTent Cities of Fayette and Haywood Counties (1960-1962)
Virginia University of Lynchburg was established in 1886 during the 19th session of the Virginia State Baptist Church Convention, held at the First Baptist Church in Lexington, Virginia. As one of the oldest institutions of higher education for black Virginians, it was founded on the … Read MoreVirginia University of Lynchburg (1886- )
The Free Colored Library of Knoxville, Tennessee was a segregated public library that opened in 1918 and closed 43 years later in 1961. It was the first municipally-supported library for African-Americans in Knoxville, Tennessee and one of twelve segregated public libraries opened in the South … Read MoreFree Colored Library, Knoxville, Tennessee (1918-1961)
The Dryades Branch of the New Orleans Public Library was the first municipally-supported library for New Orleans’s black citizens and one of a dozen public libraries in the South established for African Americans between 1908 and 1924 and funded by Andrew Carnegie. Opened in 1915, … Read MoreDryades Branch Library, New Orleans, Louisiana (1915-1965)
The Carnegie Negro Library of Greensboro, North Carolina, a free public library for African Americans, opened in 1924. It stood at 900 East Washington Street on the Bennett College campus and was the last of twelve public libraries for African Americans opened in the South … Read MoreCarnegie Negro Library, Greensboro, North Carolina (1924-1963)
