Monday, May 4, 2009
The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898
Democrats had taken over most of the towns in N.C , but no Wilmington. This city was still run by republicans because there were so many African Americans who lived in Wilmigton and voted republican.
This did not sit well for a white confederate soldier named Alfred Moore Waddell. He became very upset when an article was published in the Wilmington newspaper called "The Daily Record". The article was published by an African American man named Alex Manly. He said in the article that "white men were careless in protecting their women".
This outraged Waddell and he and 500 white men burned and seized the headquarters of the Daily Record.
Many African Americans escaped and hid from Waddell, but at least 14 African Americans were killed that day.
After the tragedy, Waddell forced the republican mayor out of office and Waddell became the new mayor of Wilmington. One of Waddell's first laws he passed as a mayor was to limit the voting rihts of African Americans. This was known as the "Grandfather Clause".
By: Katie G.
Winston-Salem State University
The University was founded in 1892. It was established by doctor Simon G. Atkins. It was originally named Slater Industrial and State Normal School in 1897. It was the first college to give degrees in elementary education to African Americans. The school is also a member of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship fund that raises money for African American students in 54 schools.
By: Caitlyn Connell
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Robert F. Williams
In 1965 the Williams family left cuba and settled in China. The family stayed in China until 1969 when they returned to the United States. Upon returning to the United States he was immediately brought to North Carolina to stand trial. Because Robert F. Williams was well liked by the chinese the United States used his influence to help relations between them. Eventually all charges against Robert F. Williams were dropped. Robert F. Williams died October 15,1996 from Hodgkin's disease.
By:Graceann Tine
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
This committee's philosophy was to protest civil rights by using no violence. They stood up for many issues such as race segregation, Vietnam War, voting rights and the feminist movement. The SNCC viewed racism and prejudice actions as a major social problem.
The committee was lead by John Lewis who stood tall for the civil rights of blacks in America. He played a major part in the Freedom Ballot, as well as speaking at the March in Washington in 1963.
The SNCC sought and made changes in American society. In the 1970's it was no longer the large organization it had become since they had achieved their goal.
By: Hudson Wyman
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Nina Simone
Beginning with her album "Nina Simone In Concert" in 1964, Nina Simone included messages in support of the civil rights movement in most of her songs. She continued to speak out against racial inequality for the rest of her career.
Nina Simone died in 2003 in France on April 21 of cancer. She died in her sleep when she was 70.
By: Patrick M.
Shaw University
By: Hannah M.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Charlie Scott
Another fact about Charlie is in 1966 he was the first black man to get a scholarship for basketball to UNC.
When Charlie was playing basketball, he was the only black player on the team. In that time not many black players had played basketball with white players.
Some of the players on the team weren't comfortable around Charlie because he was black. In fact, Charlie was sometimes asking himself, "Why am I here?".
Another thing about Charlie is his Dad died when he was twelve and his coach, Dean Smith, was the closest family Charlie had. So, life has been hard for Charlie, but the main thing that came out of this story is a man with courage can make a difference in life.
By: Anna K.
Hiram Rhodes Revels
In 1838, Revels was taught by his brother to become a barber in Lincolnton, North Carolina. He left the barber shop to further his education.
Revels attended the Union County Quaker Seminary in Indiana in 1844 and finished in Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.
Revels became a minister in 1845 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. As a minister, Revels helped raise two black union groups during the Civil War in Maryland and Missouri.
In 1866 he was given his own ministry in Natchez, Mississippi where he setteled down with his wife, Phoebe A. Bass Revels, and their 5 daughters and founded schools for black children.
In 1870, Revels was elected to the United States Senate as the 1st African American member. His term was from february 1870-March 1871. After his senate term, he was named president of Alcorn College in Mississippi which was the states first college for African American students. He retired from Alcorn in 1882.
Revels died on January 16, 1901 in Aberdeen, Mississippi while attending a church conference.
As of 2009, Revels is one of only six African Americans to have ever served in the United States Senate.
By: Cody M.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Conrad L. Raiford
Conrad L. Raiford was a champion athlete, educator, good will ambassador and one of Greensboro, NC's first African-American police officers.
In, 1946, Raiford was one of the only six black men chosen by a then all white Greensboro Police Department. The officers weren't allowed to arrest anyone whose skin was not their color. Officers had to protect places with "colored police" written on their cars. That was to let other people know that they could only arrest black people. Shuffling up colored and white police officers during World War 11 was a big problem.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a crowd almost got out of control when black officers where hired; some even attacked them. Black officers were not allowed to wear their uniforms back and forth to work. They had to dress at Atlanta's black YMCA. "They built a 2nd bathroom in the cold rat infested basement of city hall because we were considered less than human," said Raiford, who was a star athlete with a college degree.
Raiford and an elementary school teacher, Myrtle Mary Francis Wright, were married for 54 years.
By: Aliza W.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
PRICEVILLE, NC
Throughout Princeville's history, there have been many racial, economic, and social troubles. As well as these problems, there have been several floods that have caused serious damage. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd caused the area's biggest flood in 500 years. This has taken some interest in this town and how we can help it recover from the flood.
By: Carly G.
North Carolina Central University
Its founder was Dr. James E. Shepard, President of the college. The main purpose of this school was to develop in young men and women the character and sound academic training needed to do real service to the nation. NCCU was originally an all African-American school. The University has changed ownership and names a few times. NCCU became a publicly-supported institution in 1923. In 2001, June 1st , James H. Ammons became the ninth chief administrator of North Carolina Central University. With his leadership the university had enourmous enrollment growth, to become the fastest growing university among the University of North Carolina system (16 campuses). On August 1, 2007 Charlie Nelms became the chancellor of NCCU.
NCCU offers bachelor's degrees in more than 100 fields of study and awards graduate degrees in an estimated 40 disciplines. NCCU has a wide variety of International studies and exchanges programs. It has programs that attract many students, Institute for Homeland Security and Workforce Development, Biomanufacturing, Nursing, Education, Law, Bussiness and Hospitality ad Tourism. The motto of the University is "Turth and Service." All students and professor are encouraged to mento incoming freshman (help then adjust to college life).
By: Brianna B.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
North Carolina A&T University
The student body consists of 51% women, 93% African American, 1% Asian American and 1% International. NC A&T is a public university.
Some sutdent activities include, band, chorus, drama, and student government. The university also competes in collegiate and intramural sports such as football, baseball, swimming and track.
NC A&T has contributated much to the development of the city of Greensboro as well as the African American community. The university will continue to provide us with some of the countries brightest minds in agriculture, mathematics and horticulture
Caitlyn P.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Johnson C. Smith University
Between 1921 and 1929 Mrs. Jane Berry Smith gave the school $702,500.00 so they could make the school bigger and better. In 1923 they changed the name again to thank Mrs. Smith. They named the college Johnson C. Smith University after her late husband.
Until 1932 the college was only for men. After that, both men and women could be educated there.
There are many interesting facts about Johnson C. Smith University. In 1886 the college hired the first black professor in the south. In 1891 the college elected the first black college president in the south. The in 1892 our country's first black football game was played at Biddle University.
In 2000 Johnson C. Smith University became well known for being the first historically black college to give each of their students an IBM laptp computer. They are known as "ThinkPad U".
Today, Johnson C. Smith University is a private, four year college in Charlotte, North Carolina. The university has around 1,500 students and is nicknamed the Golden Bulls.
By: Amelia C.
NC Mutual Insurance And Its Founders
By: Sahar K.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Ben Chavis
Born: January 22, 1948 in Oxford NC
His Wife is Martha Rivera Chavis and they have 8 children,
He graduated from University of NC with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Ben helped work in a youth meeting for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on the team with Martin Luther King Jr. He worked to fix the public school system so both whites and blacks can attend school together.
He helped out for the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy in 1986. He also worked as the director and CEO of The National African-American Leadership Summit from 1995-1997.
He taught at a Muslim Church and then decided to change his name to Muhammad. He served as a field officer at The United Church of Christ Commission for radical justice in 1968.
He became the youngest manager of the CEO National person for the team of colored people.
In 1998, he was chosen vice president of the churches. Also he served as a chairman of justice.
Also he wrote 2 books the first one called: An American Political Prisoner and Psalms From Prison. The Whole time he was still in jail from when he made some bad decisions.
Also every day he came from school there was a library that only agreed to let whites in. So one day Ben Chavis tried going in there and checking out a book but then the librarian told him to get out but he wouldn't get out. So she had to get his parents.
Ben Chavis also was the director of the Million Man March in Washington, DC in October 1995. This is one of many great reasons Ben Chavis is important.
By: Reagan W.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Dr. Ronald E. Mcnair
McNair conducted research on space communications and then he was given the chance to apply for anstronaut training. After training, he completed his first space mission. His dream was to teach, but that dream did not come true because of the deadly Challenger mission.
After his death, Congress funded a program to help low-income, first-generation college students with college expenses.
To learn more about Dr. McNair and other astronauts and space missions, visit the NASA website http://history.nasa.gov/sts511.html
By: Anna R.
Alex Manly
Alexis H.
J.D Lewis
By: Maria M.
Morgan London Latta
Anastasia S.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt was raised by Anna Mae Riley, whom Kitt believed to be her mother. Anna sent Eartha to live with a different family until Anna Riley died. After Anna's death, she went to live with Mamie Kitt in New York City, which she later learned was her biological mother.
Eartha Kitt began her career by working for the Katherine Dunham Company. She was a really talented singer with a beautiful voice. One of the most reconized hits was "Santa Baby". Some of her other famous songs were: "Lets Do It", "C' si bon", "Love For Sale", "Uska Dara", and "Under The Bridges of Paris". Eartha also learned French and would also sometimes sing in other languages. In 1950, Orson Welles gave Eartha her first starring role in Helen of Troy. Also, in the 1960s, Kitt was chosen to replace Julie Newmar in the role as CAt Woman in the television series Batman.
In 1968, Eartha was asked to go to a special luncheon at the White House. She had a substantional setback after she made anti-war statements. After she was publicly rejected in the US, she went overseas to preform.
Over the years, Eartha had many awards and nominations for her work in music, television, film and stage. She had a very succesful and long career from 1948-2008. Eartha died from colon cancer on December 25, 2008 at the age of 81.
Sugar Ray Leonard
He changed his name to "Sugar" Ray Leonard as a tribute to a famous boxer named Sugar Ray Robinson. In the early 70's he began a career as a professional boxer. In 1976 he won an Olympic Gold metal in Lightweight class. He won his first title beating the reigning champion; Wilfred Bentinz. He did not lose a fight until match 23 when he lost to Robert Duran. When his career in boxing ended he had a record of 36 wins, and only 3 losses. He was 40 years old when he retired.
And to think on May 17, 1956 he was just another baby boy born in Rocky Mount. Now he is a boxing legend.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Michael Jordan
Monday, April 13, 2009
Henry Frye
In 1956, when Henry tried to register to vote in his hometown he was told he didnt pass the literacy test and so he couldn't vote. He thought that was really weird because it didn't make sense that he could graduate from college, serve as Captain of the Air Force and be enrolled at UNC Law School and then not pass a literacy test. He told the chairman of the board of elections about this and then passed the literacy test and was able to vote.
In 1968 he became the first African American elected to the North Carolina legislature. In 1983 he became the first African American appointed as an associate justice to the court. His biggest first was on September 7, 1999 when he took the oath of office as the first African American chief justice of the North Carolina Sipreme Court. He paved the way for a lot of other African Americans to be succesful. The best advice that henry ever got was from a high school principal who said, "winners never quit, and quitters never win." He took that advice seriously and that is one of the reasons that he went so far in his career and paving a way for other African Americans to follow.
By: Joel D.
The Greensboro Four
Here's what happened. The students entered a store called Woolworths in Greensboro, NC and each made a small purchase, saving their receipts to prove that they were customers. They took seats at the whites only lunch counter. They were denied service but stayed in their seats. The Manager of the store called the police, but the police were unable to arrest them because they were not doing anything against the law. The Woolworths manager closed the store early hoping that they wouldn't come back the next day, though they vowed they would.
On February 2nd, the Greensboro Four returned to Woolworths just as they had promised and sat at the counter. By the next day, television had spread the protest to High Point, NC.
This went on until June 25th, 1960. The number of people at the Woolworths sitin had increased until there were thousands of protesters and onlookers. Studentsfrom Bennett College and Greensboro Women's College joined the sitin. On June 26th, 1960 Woolworths finally allows blacks and whites to sit at the same lunch counter to eat.
Katie K.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Fayetteville State University
Prior to the civil war in 1861 black education was limited to prevent slave rebellion. However, as early as 1835 some northern schools admitted black students. The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in Pennsylvania in 1837 and later became Cheyney University. The Wilberforce University started in 1856 was the first school owned and operated by black americans.
Many schools for blacks only prepared them for industrial work. In 1865 the Freedman's Bureau was set up to help freed slaves with education. In 1867 seven black men bought some land to be used for teaching black children in Fayetteville, North Carolina. General O.O Howard from the Freedman's Bureau built a 3 room school on the land. The school was named the Howard school. In 1877 the State of North Carolina wanted to start a school for black teachers. They selected the Howard school. The Howard school became a school for training black teachers and its new name was the State Colored Normal School.
In 1899 the school was expanded from 3 rooms to 10 buildings on 50 acres when 5 men got a loan to add on to the school. In 1929 the school stopped teaching high school courses at the Normal School. In May of 1937 the North Carolina State Board of Education said that the Normal School may give Bachelor of Science degrees in education. In 1939 the name was changed to Fayetteville State Teacher College.
They added classes so that degrees other than teaching degrees could be earned in 1956. In 1963 the name was changed to Fayetteville State College beacause it wasn't just a teacher's college anymore. In 1969 the name was changed to its current name Fayetteville State University. In 1972 Fayetteville State University became a part of the University of North Carolina System.
In the South if you are a black person you have a good chance of going to college. Strong Segregation created a lot of black colleges in the southern part of the United States. Fayetteville State University is part of the southern black education heritage. Today 3/4ths of the students at Fayetteville State University are African Americans. They offer baccalaureate degrees in 23 disciplines. They now also have Graduate degrees in Business Administration and Education.
Lydia B.
Little Eva
Eva got married and had a total of 5 children. Right before Eva came back she recorded a gospel album and dedicated to her husband that had passed away. Then Eva came back home to Kinston, North Carolina where she passed away on April 10th, 2003 of cervical cancer at the young age of 59.
Before Little Eva became famous she will be known as the Most Famous Babysitter, that is what she had done till her carrer jump started.
Madison W.
The first day four Negros showed up and sat for the whole day. The next day 23 men and 4 women came with the first four and protested. By the fourth day of the sit-in 300 students came to Woolworths. As other Negros around the country saw what was happening they started sit-ins also.
The sit-ins got alot of attention from newspapers and the government. President Eisenhower said that he supported the students and that he felt sorrow that they had to fight for their human rights.
The sit-ins were successful because they achieved desegregation. Besides being able to sir at lunch counters they could go to museums, ride on buses and swim in public swimming pools.
Casey E.
Monday, March 16, 2009
W.E.B. Dubois
DuBois's father left when he was young and his mother died when he was 16 years old. He was a good student though, and was the first African-American to graduate from his high school. He went to college in Tennessee and earned his PH.D. from Harvard University. One of the most important things that DuBois did was to help start the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909. The NAACP was important because they helped with many legal cases which made sure that the rights of minorities were protected.
W.E.B. Dubios is important to North Carolina history because in 1926, the W.E.B. DeBois School was built for Aftican-Americans in Wake Forest, NC, and was named in his honor because he was so important in advancing the rights fo African-Americans.
By: Alex F.
Richard Etheridge
October 11, 1896 Richard's tough training drills proved to be invaluable. The three masted sailboat, the E.S. Newman, was caught in a strong storm. The vessel was blown 100 miles south off course it was supposed to be on and placed itself on the beach two miles south of the lifesaving station Etheridge warked at. The horrible storm was so dangerous that Richard had made the normal beach patrols go home that day. But the keen eyes of surfman Theodore Meekins saw the first danger flare and he quickly made Richard aware of it Richard collected his crew and started off on the surfboat. battling the mighty tides and sweeping currents the lifesavers had a hard time to make their way to a poit opposite the sailboat, only to find there was no dry land. Richard tied two of his strongest surfmen side by side and connected them to shore by a long line. They fought their way through the loud breakers and finally reached the stranded sailboat. The Pea Island crew members journeyed through the dangerous waters about ten time! The entire crew was rescued from the sailboat. Richard and his crew were awarded the Gold lifesaving Medal by the Coast Guard, for this rescue.
By: Kiera S.
John Coltrane
By: Kyndall R.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Dr. Charolotte Hawkins Brown
Dara M.
Daniel T Blue Jr.
Daniel graduated high school in 1966 and enrolled in college at North Carolina Central University. He was an outstanding student and could have chosen to be anything, but he chose to be a lawyer.
As a member of the NC House of Representatives, Daniel served as Speaker of the House from 1991 thru 1994. He was the first African American to hold this post. He lost this post when in 1994 when the Republicans regained control of the House.
Daniel, then returned to the practice of law. He was selected by the local Democratic Party to return to his seat in the NC House of Representatives when his successor died.
By: Rachel J.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Bennet College
Romare Bearden
He went to DeWitt Clinton High School. He also was a baseball player in the Negro league. He began college at Lincoln University. Romare transferred to Boston University and completed his studies and New York University.
He graduated with a dgree in education. He began taking courses of art. At New York University Romare published many journal covers. After joining the Harlem artists guides Bearden left on his life long study of art, gathering inspiration from western masters.
He made art that was called collage. He would take bits and pieces of ribbon, paper and other materials and put it all together on a canvas. A lot of his art can be found in museums.
Romare was really great with his art. He just put pieces of different materials on paper and canvas and it was pretty much art. It was cool that alot of museums have them there. He liked making lang landscapes and used alot of women and children in his art.
Romare Bearden also wrote books. One of his popular books is called Lil' Dan and the drummer boy. Lil' Dan was a slave on a plantation. He loves to play his drum. When a company announces all the slaves are set free he doesn't no where to go so he follows the soilders.
In 1990, the Romare Bearden Foundation was started. The foundation has a collection of his art and books and letters. these are available to schools and public programs to make people aware of how important he was to his culture and history of art.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Fantasia Barrino
In 2004 Fantasia was selected to be on the American Idol show. America never heard such a strong gospel, rythm ad blues singer like Fantasia. Not only did the judges love fantasia but America did to. At the age of 19 Fantasia became America Idols finalist and winner. She later went on to star in Broadway showsand even a movie about her life. Fantasia Barrino released her own record which has sold millions of copies.
Aretha Franklin has always been an inspiration to fantasia. When an opportunity presented to Fantasia to play Aretha Franklin on the hit TV show American Dreams it was a dream come true. On March 25, 2005 Fantasia preformed at the NAACP Image Awards in honorof Illinois senator Barack Obama Before he was elected President of the Untied States. Fantasia also won an award for outstanding female artist. In May of 2005, Fantasia went on her first tour with her own band and soul singers.
Fantasia is looking forward to releasing a new album in the spring of 2009. Her new album will have many different sounds from her American Idol show and gospel singing. Fantasia has told many people about her strugles especially with her problems with school. September 2005 she published her memoirs which was written by another writer. Her book is called Life is Not a Fairy Tale. Fantasia's book was number 7 on the New York Times Bestseller list. The book she told how she cannot read well and could only read easy familiar words. Fantasia always tells children how important it is to stay in school and learn while pursuing their dreams. In August 2006 her book was made into a Lifetime Television film.
By: James Tine
Monday, March 9, 2009
Barber-Scotia College
By: Meagan K.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Maya Angelou
After graduating from highschool, Angelou attended California Labor School on a scholarship. There she studied dance and drama. During her years in college, Angelou became the first black female streetcar conductor for San Francisco. A few weeks after graduating from college, Maya gave birth to her son, Clyde. He too became a poet. Later Angelou received a scholarship to study dance with Trinidadian choreographer Pearl Primus. Angelou married tosh Angelos in 1952,but the divorced after one-and-a-half years. Angelou has never admitted how many times she's been married, but it's believed to be at least three times.