Image Ownership: Neon Tommy Longtime University of Washington head basketball coach Lorenzo Romar was born November 13, 1958, and grew up in Compton, California, where he went on to play at Cerritos Community College after high school. After playing two years for Cerritos, he transferred … Read MoreLorenzo Romar (1958- )
In her new book, Reparation and Reconciliation: The Rise and Fall of Integrated Higher Education, sociologist Christi M. Smith reveals a largely forgotten history of early efforts to integrate higher education in the years following the Civil War. This history pushes us to consider the … Read MoreChallenging Caste and Race: The Campaign for Integrated Higher Education in the Reconstruction Era
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Preston Taylor was an African American businessman, minister, and philanthropist, who, by the early twentieth century, was considered one of the most influential leaders of Nashville, Tennessee’s black community. Taylor created Greenwood Cemetery, the second oldest African American cemetery in Nashville, … Read MorePreston Taylor (1849–1931)
Dr. Charles Victor Roman was an author, physician, historian, medical school professor, and civil rights activist. He was also the first physician of African ancestry from North America to receive training in both ophthalmology and otolaryngology. Roman was born on July 4, 1864, in Williamsport, … Read MoreCharles Victor Roman (1864–1934)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute, and many other instruments. Kirk was born Ronald Theodore Kirk in Columbus, Ohio, on August 7, 1935. He grew up in a neighborhood in Columbus called Flytown. Kirk was born with sight … Read MoreRahsaan Roland Kirk (1935-1977)
“Image Ownership: Kaori Tachibana/The Collegian” Dr. Ronald Andrew Crutcher is a distinguished classical musician and a national leader in higher education. He served as the as the seventh president of Wheaton College from 2004 to 2014, and then became the first African American president of … Read MoreRonald Andrew Crutcher (1947– )
Georgia Montgomery Davis Powers was an American politician and activist, and in 1967 she became the first black to be elected to the senate of the state of Kentucky. Powers, a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., also worked with Rev. Jesse Jackson … Read MoreGeorgia Davis Powers (1923-2016)
The 1966 championship game for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament came down to a test between a small southwestern institution, El Paso’s Texas Western College Miners, and an accomplished four-time NCAA tournament winner, the University of Kentucky Wildcats. This game, however, proved … Read MoreThe Texas Western Miners (1966)
“Image Ownership: MavsFan28“ Jenean Hampton, at the age of fifty-eight, became the first statewide, black, elected official in Kentucky’s history when she was elected lieutenant governor on November 3, 2015. Hampton ran on the Republican Party ticket headed by GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin who … Read MoreJenean Hampton (1958– )
Esteemed educator, legendary basketball coach, and successful university president, Harrison Wilson Jr. was born on April 21, 1925, in Amsterdam, a small city in upstate New York. His mother Marguerite Ayers was a school teacher, and his father Harrison Wilson Sr. worked in construction. Dr. … Read MoreHarrison B. Wilson Jr. (1925-2019)
