In the late 1970s after two decades of school desegregation efforts in Seattle, Washington, school administrators and parents of black children began to notice that average academic test scores for African American students began to lag behind those of white and Asian pupils in almost … Read More … Read MoreThe African American Academy (1991-2009)
Fire Station No. 30, Engine Company No. 30 in Los Angeles, 2011 Image Ownership: Cbl62 Fire station #30, the first fire station manned by African Americans in the West, was established in 1924. Although the station was created in 1924, African Americans had been serving … Read More … Read MoreLos Angeles Fire Department Fire Station 30 (1924-1955)
“Image Ownership: 25or6to4 (CC BY-SA 4.0)” St. John African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Topeka, Kansas was officially organized in 1877 when it was chartered by Reverend John M. Wilkerson of the Missouri African Methodist Episcopal Conference. In 1868, nine years before the charter, however, … Read More … Read MoreSt. John African Methodist Episcopal Church, Topeka, Kansas (1868- )
Although the Smithsonian National African American Museum of History and Culture (NAAMHC) officially opened in 2016, the ideal of a federally-owned museum to describe the African American experience dates back to 1915 with a meeting of the U.S. Colored Troops, veterans of the Civil War, … Read More … Read MoreThe Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) (2016- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Bethel AME Church Reno is the longest operating African-American congregation in Nevada. An African Methodist Episcopal congregation of seven organized it in 1907. Its first building was constructed in 1910 at 220 Bell Street in Reno, Nevada. The AME Church sent Reverend … Read More … Read MoreBethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Reno, Nevada (1907– )
(Photo Courtesy of Tricia Simpson) The Trinity African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is the oldest continuously operating black church in Utah. Trinity AME was organized in 1890 by Rev. T. Saunders when Salt Lake City was the capital of Utah Territory. The early date of … Read More … Read MoreTrinity African Methodist Episcopal Church (1890- )
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 More … Read MoreThe Spingarn Medal (1915- )
The First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Oakland, California emerged in the eastern part of the Bay Area in 1858. The congregation itself was founded by members of the black community in Oakland at the time, but it wasn’t until 1863 that they actually had … Read More … Read MoreFirst AME Church, Oakland, California (1858- )
The Union Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church in Great Falls, Montana, is one of the state’s oldest active churches. The African American community in Great Falls dates to the town’s beginnings. As elsewhere in the western United States, the community came together early on for mutual benefit … Read More … Read MoreUnion Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Great Falls, Montana (1890- )
In the following article, Collins Edigin, a historian at the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria, describes the rule of the Obas of Benin, a continuous dynasty of the West African state of Benin (now in present-day Nigeria) that began in the 13th Century … Read More … Read MoreThe Obas of Benin: A Brief History of the Rulers of A West African State for Eight Centuries
