A historically black college located in on a 125-acre campus near downtown Jackson, the capital city of the state of Mississippi, Jackson State University (JSU) has been the designated urban university of the state’s higher education system since 1979. The school was founded in 1877 … Read MoreJackson State University (1877- )
Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) is a public institution located in Itta Bena, Mississippi. MVSU is the nation’s youngest historically black public university. In 1946 the Mississippi legislature passed an act authorizing the establishment of a new institution to be named Mississippi Vocational College. The … Read MoreMississippi Valley State University (1950- )
Cudjo Lewis is considered the last survivor of the last slave ship to enter the United States. Born around 1841 to a Yoruba family in the Banté region of Dahomey (today Benin), he was given the name Oluale Kossola (Kazoola). At age fourteen, Kossola began … Read MoreKossola Cudjo Lewis (ca. 1841-1935)
James Farmer Sr., prominent early 20th Century educator, initially gained attention as the first African American to hold a Ph.D. in the state of Texas. Farmer was born on June 12, 1886 in Kingstree, South Carolina to Carolina and Lorena Farmer, who were former slaves. … Read MoreJames Farmer, Sr. (1886-1961)
Founded in 1871, Alcorn State University is the oldest historically Black land-grant institution in the United States and the second oldest state-supported institution in the state of Mississippi. The college is located outside of Lorman in Claiborne County. Alcorn was founded in vacated Oakland College, … Read MoreAlcorn State University (1871- )
Tougaloo College is one of the United States’ premier historically black colleges and universities. The American Missionary Association (AMA) founded Tougaloo in 1869. Early in that year the AMA had commissioned Allen P. Huggins, a former Union officer, to look for land for a normal-agricultural … Read MoreTougaloo College (1869- )
Bennie G. Thompson, United States Representative from Mississippi’s Second Congressional District, is the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and as such is one of the most influential African American members of Congress. Thompson was born in Bolton, Mississippi on January 28, 1948 to … Read MoreBennie G. Thompson (1948- )
Born in Teoc, Mississippi in 1892 but raised in Avalon, Mississippi, “Mississippi” John Hurt spent the majority of his life employed as a farm hand. Though he briefly recorded in the 1920s, it was not until the 1960s that his music was widely distributed and … Read More“Mississippi” John Smith Hurt (ca. 1892-1966)
Eddie James House Jr., better known as “Son House,” was an influential blues performer born in Lyon, Mississippi to Eddie House, Sr. and Maggie House. He was the middle child of three siblings, with an older brother, Rathel House, and a younger brother, Lee Jackson … Read MoreEdward James House (“Son”), Jr. (1902-1988)
Black and Tan Republicans were African Americans in the Reconstruction-era South who were loyal to the Republican Party. When the Republican Party was founded in 1854, few African Americans joined. By the time of the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Party began to attract support … Read MoreBlack and Tan Republicans
