Samuel DuBois Cook is a retired Dillard University president and, with his appointment to the Duke University faculty in 1966, was the first African American professor to hold a regular faculty appointment at any predominantly white college or university in the South. Cook also served … Read MoreSamuel DuBois Cook (1928- )
Xavier University is a private, four-year coeducational historically black university located in New Orleans, Louisiana; the campus is located one mile from downtown New Orleans. Xavier University is the only historically black college or university (HBCU) affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Xavier was founded … Read MoreXavier University [New Orleans] (1915- )
Southern University is a historically black university with a main campus located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Originally founded in 1880 in New Orleans as Southern University in New Orleans, it began its mission of providing post-secondary education for African Americans with 12 students and 5 … Read MoreSouthern University [New Orleans] (1956- )
In the article below historian Gwendolyn Midlo Hall recounts her role as a founder of the New Orleans Youth Congress and the early years of the Southern Negro Youth Congress. This account is part of her soon to be published memoirs. Few of us know … Read MoreThe Southern Negro Youth Congress: A Participant Recalls Its Past
Dillard University is a private, Historically Black liberal arts college located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church. Dillard University is a result of the merger between Straight College and New Orleans University in … Read MoreDillard University (1869- )
Writer Ann Petry was born Ann Lane on October 12, 1908 to pharmacist Peter Clark Lane, Jr. and podiatrist Bertha James Lane in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Like her father, Ann was trained as a pharmacist and practiced in the family’s drugstores in Old Saybrook. However, … Read MoreAnn Lane Petry (1908-1997)
Pioneer jazz musician Freddie Keppard was one of the most famous cornet players of the early 20th Century. Born February 27, 1890 in New Orleans, Keppard came from a musical family which included his brother Louis Keppard, who also became a professional musician playing the … Read MoreFreddie Keppard (1890-1933)
Cleo Fields, politician, lawyer, and United States Representative from Louisiana’s Fourth Congressional District (1993-97), was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on November 22, 1962. At four years old, Fields lost his father, Isidore Fields, a dockworker, in a car crash. His mother, Alice Fields, supported … Read MoreCleo Fields (1962- )
Community organizer and civil rights activist Hunter Pitts O’Dell was born in Detroit, Michigan on August 11, 1924. His father George Edwin O’Dell worked in hotels and restaurants in Detroit. His mother, Emily (Pitts) O’Dell, who studied music at Howard University, later taught adults to … Read MoreHunter Pitts “Jack” O’Dell (1924-2019)
William J. Jefferson is a former Democratic politician who represented Louisiana’s Second Congressional District from 1991 to 2009. He was the first African American congressman elected from the state since Reconstruction. His career ended in a bribery scandal that resulted in his conviction in November … Read MoreWilliam J. Jefferson (1947- )
