The following are short descriptions of individuals, places and events 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 25th Dynasty refers to the kings of Kush (which included Nubia) who ruled all or part of Egypt from around 746 to 653 BC. This period parallels the Egyptian Third Intermediate Period (1070-653 BC). The Kushite kings of this period considered themselves the bodily … Read More25th Dynasty, Ancient Egypt (ca. 746 BC to 653 BC)
The ancient land of Nubia stretched from the Middle and Upper Nile River Valley, from the First cataract of the Nile River down to the merging of the White and Blue Nile Rivers. Many cultures populated and fought over this region resulting in dynamic trade … Read MoreAncient Nubia (ca. 5000 BC-500 AD)
On February 16, 1827, The Church Missionary Society (CMS) founded Fourah Bay College, the first college in West Africa. The first principal of the college was Rev. Edward Jones, an African American minister. It was located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, the capital of Sierra … Read MoreFourah Bay College (1827- )
In 1922 the British colonial government in Uganda founded a small vocational school, which would eventually become Uganda’s lone institution of higher education, Makerere University. The British Governor of Uganda, Robert Coryndon (1918-1922), proposed building a technical school for Africans. The Colonial Office and the … Read MoreMakerere University (1922– )
Achimota College was founded in Achimota, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1924 by Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey, Rev. Alexander Garden Fraser, and Sir Gordon Guggisberg, the British Governor of the Gold Coast (1919-1927), as an elite secondary school based on the British model of public education. Governor Guggisberg urged … Read MoreAchimota College/Achimota School (1924- )
On February 7, 2008, Belize elected Dean Barrow as its first black Prime Minister. Born March 2, 1951, in Belize City, Barrow earned his LL.M. from the University of Miami in the United States and became partner at a Belizean law firm in 1977. Two … Read MoreDean Oliver Barrow (1951- )
The Ashanti Empire was a pre-colonial West African state that emerged in the 17th century in what is now Ghana. The Ashanti or Asante were an ethnic subgroup of the Akan-speaking people, and were composed of small chiefdoms. The Ashanti established their state around Kumasi … Read MoreAshanti Empire/ Asante Kingdom (18th to late 19th century)
Islamic preacher, reformer, scholar, and statesman, Usman dan Fodio was born on December 15, 1754 in the village of Maratta, in the Hausa city-state of Gobir, in what is today northern Nigeria. He was a descendant of the early Fulani settlers in Hausaland in the … Read MoreUsman dan Fodio (1754-1817)
In 1851, the national legislature of Liberia authorized the establishment of Liberia College which is now the second oldest institution of higher learning in West Africa. The Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia purchased materials and hired faculty for the college with funds from … Read MoreUniversity of Liberia (1863- )
El Mina, a fortress erected by the Portuguese in what is now Ghana in 1482, was the first permanent structure south of the Sahara built by Europeans, and was the first of many facilities along the shore of West Africa designed to facilitate the growing … Read MoreEl Mina São Jorge da Mina
