People, Locations, Episodes

Rosa Kinckle Jones, Music Teacher born

*The birth of Rosa Kinckle Jones is marked on this date in 1858. She was a Black music teacher.   Rosa Daniel Kinckle was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, to free black parents.  Jones attended that city’s public school until 1877, when she left for Howard University, from which she graduated with honors in 1880.  She devoted the first years of her […]

The Witherspoon School For The Colored Opens

*The Witherspoon School for the Colored is celebrated on this date in 1858.  This was a school for Blacks that operated before the American Civil War. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, it opened its doors on a building on the corner of Maclean and Witherspoon Streets. One of the teachers was Betsey Stockton. She was […]

William Morris Sr., Lawyer, and Professor, born

 *The birth of William R. Morris, Sr. is celebrated on this date in 1859. He was a Black professor and lawyer. William Richard Morris was born into slavery in Flemingsburg, KY. He was the son of Hezekiah (a slave), Elizabeth Hopkins Morris (free), and the brother of Edward H. Morris. Hezekiah bought his freedom and […]

Horace R. Cayton Sr., News Publisher born

*The birth of Horace Cayton Sr. in 1859 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American newspaper publisher and political activist.

Josephine Silone Yates, Professor born

*Josephine Silone Yates was born on this date in 1859.  She was a Black chemist, journalist, and educator.   Josephine Silone was the second daughter of Alexander and Parthenia Reeve Silone and was born in Mattituck, NY. During her childhood, her family lived with her maternal grandfather, a freed slave, Lymas Reeves. Her mother taught […]

Victoria Matthews, Educator, and Writer born

On this date in 1861, Victoria Matthews, an African American educator, writer, and advocate for Black people, was born.

Lucy Addison, Teacher born

*Lucy Addison was born on this date in 1861.  She was a Black school teacher and principal.   Lucy Addison was born in Upperville, Virginia, to Charles Addison and Elizabeth Anderson Addison, both of whom were slaves. She was the third child born to the couple and the second daughter. After the emancipation of her […]

The Morrill Land-Grant Act is Passed

*On this date, 1862, the Morrill Land-Grant Act was passed. This act allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states and paved the way for many Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) using the proceeds of federal land sales.   The Morrill Act of 1862 was enacted during the American Civil War, and the Morrill Act […]

The Penn Normal Industrial, and Agricultural School, (South Carolina) Opens

*The founding of the Penn Normal, Industrial, and Agricultural School in 1862 is celebrated on this date.

LeMoyne-Owen College is Founded

The founding of LeMoyne-Owen College (LOC) in 1862 is marked on this date. This school, in Syracuse, N.Y., is one of over 100 Historical Black Colleges and Universities in America.

The Normal School for Colored Girls, (Washington D.C.) Opens

*The Normal School for Colored Girls was chartered on this date in 1863.   Now known as the University of the District of Columbia, it was established in Washington, D.C., as an institution of learning and training for young Black women, especially to train teachers.  The school was founded in 1851 by Myrtilla Miner with encouragement from Henry Ward Beecher and funding from […]

Ariel Hedges Bowen, Educator born

*Ariel Hedges Bowen was born on this date in 1863.  She was a Black writer, temperance activist, and professor of music.  Ariel Serena Hedges was born in Newark, New Jersey, where her father, Charles Hedges, was a Presbyterian clergyman. He was an 1869 graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and organized churches in New York […]

Adella Hunt Logan, Educator born

Adella Hunt’s birth in 1863 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American educator and administrator.

She was born in Sparta, Georgia, the daughter of a Black woman and a white farmer, Henry Hunt. Her father served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He did not live with his eight children but he did help to pay for Adella’s education at Sparta’s Bass Academy and at Atlanta University. In 1883, young Hunt taught at the American Missionary School before joining Booker T. Washington and Olivia Davidson at the Tuskegee Institute.

Simon Atkins, Educator born

*Simon Atkins was born on this date in 1863. He was a Black educator and administrator.  Born to two former slaves, Simon Green Atkins was born on a farm in North Carolina rented by his former master, Capt. E. Bryan. In 1880, Atkins began his education in Haywood, NC, where he progressed to the top of […]

John Westley Gilbert, Archeologist born

*John Wesley Gilbert was born on this date in 1863. He was a Black archaeologist, educator, and missionary to the Congo. Gilbert was born enslaved in Hephzibah, Georgia, though he grew up near Augusta. He was named after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Until he left Georgia, Gilbert “spent half the year on the […]