Southern University, Baton Rouge,the largest historically black university in Louisiana, was chartered in 1880 in New Orleans, Louisiana as a state supported institution for the education of black Louisianans. It was founded in response to the efforts of African American political leaders such as former … Read More … Read MoreSouthern University [Baton Rouge] (1880- )
Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD), founded in 1986 in New York City, is one of the oldest organizations working toward the welfare of black gay men in the United States. They began offering services for persons with AIDS toward the beginning of the US … Read More … Read MoreGay Men of African Descent (GMAD) (1986- )
Map of the Coachella Valley Image Ownership: Courtesy Matthew Trump (CC BY-SA 3.0) John Nobles was a black pioneer who mysteriously came to own a large swath of land in the 1930s in the Coachella Valley, California. This happened at a time when the sale … Read More … Read MoreJohn Nobles (c. 1880s-c. 1940s)
The 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was a volunteer regiment made up of men who wanted to enter the already full 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 54th was the first officially recognized black military unit in the … Read More … Read More55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (1863-1865)
Pearl L. Stewart, freelance journalist and journalism educator was the first African American woman to lead a major daily newspaper when she was hired in 1992 to head the Oakland Tribune. In 2002 she founded the website Black College Wire (blackcollegewire.org), an online news service … Read More … Read MorePearl Stewart (1950- )
The first instance of Black soldiers engaging in significant combat during the Civil War was the Battle of Island Mound on Oct 29th, 1862 in Bates County, Missouri. With the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued on September 22nd, 1862, black soldiers had for more than one … Read More … Read MoreBattle of Island Mound (1862)
Leonard Bailey was an African American inventor and businessman in Washington, D.C., in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in 1825 to an impoverished free black family, Bailey rose in status by becoming a journeyman barber. Through this success, he eventually came to operate and own many of the … Read More … Read MoreLeonard C. Bailey (1825-1918)
Atlantic Beach, South Carolina was one of the last all-black resorts to be developed along the Atlantic Coast. Formed two years after the 1964 Civil Rights Act opened beach resorts to all visitors regardless of race, Atlantic Beach never had the opportunity afforded older black … Read More … Read MoreAtlantic Beach, South Carolina (1966- )
The Lafayette Players were a dramatic stock company composed entirely of African American actors. Originally from Harlem, this first of its kind group introduced audiences to the idea that black actors were capable of taking on a variety of roles and displaying a much greater … Read More … Read MoreThe Lafayette Players (1915-1932)
Highland Beach, Maryland, the oldest of the major black resort towns, was founded along the western shore of Chesapeake Bay in 1893 by Charles and Laura Douglass. Charles Douglass was the son of prominent abolitionist and nineteenth-century civil rights activist Frederick Douglass. Major Charles Douglass, … Read More … Read MoreHighland Beach, Maryland (1893- )
