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.
The USS Mason (DE-529) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort and was the second ship of the U.S. Navy to be named Mason. The USS Mason was one of the two U.S. Navy ships during World War II with a mostly African American crew. The other … Read MoreThe USS Mason (DE-529) (1943-1945)
The Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School was a military base and training facility located on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa. During World War I it was the training facility for the first large group of African Americans officers to serve … Read MoreThe Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School (1901- )
The first recorded game of baseball in America occurred on June 19, 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey. In its first two decades the sport was racially integrated but after the Civil War, African American baseball players were banned from the National Association of Amateur Baseball … Read MoreThe Negro Baseball Leagues (1920-1950)
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are institutions established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide post-secondary (high school) education to Black people. In the immediate post-Civil War period when only two predominantly white colleges, Oberlin (Ohio) and Berea (Kentucky), accepted black students, … Read MoreHistorically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) (1837- )
The Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, the hometown of Sam Houston, was established in 1849. It is also referred to as the “Walls Unit” for the 15-foot masonry wall that surrounds the prison yard. Currently, it has the capacity to house 1,705 male inmates. During … Read MoreTexas State Penitentiary at Huntsville (1849- )
The Louisiana State Penitentiary nicknamed the “Alcatraz of the South” is the largest maximum security prison in the country. Six thousand, three hundred men, 80 per cent of whom are black are held there. Before the Civil War, the prison property was known as the Angola … Read MoreLouisiana State Prison, Angola (1880- )
The Spingarn Medal is the highest honor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Since 1915, it has been awarded annually for the highest achievement of a living African American in the preceding year or years. The twofold purpose of the … Read MoreThe Spingarn Medal (1915- )
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)
