Celebrate Black History and HBCUs’ Contribution
Since its inception, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have always led the way for social change. Many great black leaders have come from HBCUs including, Stokely Carmicheal (Howard University), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Morehouse College), Jesse Jackson (North Carolina A&T), Rosa Parks (Alabama State), and many others. HBCUs played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement, serving as a breeding ground for future leaders and their fight for equality. HBCUs became the base for meetings, rallying centers, and training grounds for non-violent protests. Many important civil rights movement activities took place on or originated at HBCU campuses and this article serves to highlight a few of those revolutionary contributions.
Here are a few HBCUs & their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement!
3Tougaloo College
Tougaloo College played a central role in the civil rights movement as it provided refuge for weary Freedom Riders and hosted organizers and activists such as Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A group of undergraduate students known as “The Tougaloo Nine” staged sit-ins at segregated public institutions, most notably the Jackson Public Library in 1961. The Nine—Meredith Coleman Anding Jr., James Cleo Bradford, Alfred Lee Cook, Geraldine Edwards, Janice Jackson, Joseph Jackson Jr., Albert Earl Lassiter, Evelyn Pierce, and Ethel Sawyer—were members of the Jackson Youth Council of the NAACP. They were trained by the then-president of the NAACP Jackson branch, Medgar Evers, for the sit-in protest. They entered the library and sat at different tables reading books quietly, to which the librarian responded by calling the police on them. The students refused to leave and were arrested, sparking protests on their behalf. the Tougaloo Nine’s actions led the NAACP to file a class action lawsuit on January 12, 1962, against the Jackson Public library, calling for its integration. In June 1962 the district court judge ordered the library to desegregate. In addition to the Tougaloo Nine, students led voting registration drives, boycotts of white-only restaurants, and a successful campaign to encourage white entertainers not to participate in segregated performances in Jackson. Many students were arrested for trying to attend segregated white churches and concerts and were bailed out by the 1960 president, Dr. Adam Beittel. According to Ed King, the school chaplain during the height of the movement and a founder of the Freedom Democratic Party, Tougaloo College made sure to find ways to for students to complete their studies while also being involved in the movement.
