Branding and Tattoos

Some time ago a frat brother asked me why I am not branded. In fact through the years as I meet people who find out I am an Omega ask me where is my brand or tattoo. While I respect people to choose to modify their body as a form of self expression I choose not to express myself in that fashion.

Why - for some it is no big deal however for me there is something that hearkens back to the days of slavery. Slave owners would mark their property to make it clear this belonged to me. The very thought of marking myself in any form makes me think of that and would be a constant reminder that there were people (some of whom were related by blood) who had this done to them involuntarily - they had no say or choice so how can I respect their memory and the sacrifices they made that allow me to be here and do to myself voluntarily what they would have wished not be done to them?

I understand in different cultures various forms of body modification are part of a ritual that involved the rite of passage from childhood to adult and even in some you are considered unattractive without - however this is my personal choice and is my way of paying respect to the people who are responsible for my being here today. Sure, I could mark my skin or modify myself to show my commitment - yet for me a better testament is how I choose to live my life and the people whose lives I have touched along the way - something that I hope will leave a more meaningful mark and it of benefit to others that lives long past my time on this earth!

What are your thoughts - why do you choose to or not to modify your body?

Milestones in African American Education

1837

Institute for Colored Youth founded by Richard Humphreys; later became Cheyney University.

1854

Ashmun Institute, the first school of higher learning for young black men, founded by John Miller Dickey and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson; later (1866) renamed Lincoln University (Pa.) after President Abraham Lincoln.

1856

Wilberforce University, the first black school of higher learning owned and operated by African Americans, founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Its president, Daniel A. Payne, became the first African American Uniiversity president in the country.

1869

Howard University's law school becomes the country's first black law school.

1876

Meharry Medical College, the first black medical school in the U.S., founded by the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

1881

Spelman College, the first college for black women in the U.S., founded by Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles.

1881

Booker T. Washington founds the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. The school became one of the leading schools of higher learning for African Americans, and stressed the practical application of knowledge. In 1896, George Washington Carver began teaching there as director of the department of agricultural research, gaining an international reputation for his agricultural advances.

1922

William Leo Hansberry teaches the first course in African civilization at an American university, at Howard University.

1944

Frederick Douglass Patterson establishes the United Negro College Fund to help support black colleges and black students.

1954

In the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., the Supreme Court rules unanimously that segregation in public schools in unconstitutional.

1957

President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends federal troops to ensure integration of the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. The Little Rock Nine were the first black students to attend the school.

1960

Black and white students form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), dedicated to working against segregation and discrimination.

1962

James Meredith is the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi; on the day he enters the university, he is escorted by U.S. marshals.

1963

Despite Governor George Wallace physically blocking their way, Vivian Malone and James Hood register for classes at the University of Alabama.

1968

San Francisco State University becomes the first four-year college to establish a black studies department.

1969

The Ford Foundation gives $1 million to Morgan State University, Howard University, and Yale University to help prepare faculty members to teach courses in African American studies.

2003

In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court (5-4) upholds the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action policy, ruling that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges when selecting their students because it furthers “a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.”

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872844.html

Famous Firsts by African Americans by Borgna Brunner

African-American Firsts: Government

• Local elected official: John Mercer Langston, 1855, town clerk of Brownhelm Township, Ohio.
• State elected official: Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1836, the Vermont legislature.
• Mayor of major city: Carl Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio, 1967–1971. The first black woman to serve as a mayor of a major U.S. city was Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly, Washington, DC, 1991–1995.
• Governor (appointed): P.B.S. Pinchback served as governor of Louisiana from Dec. 9, 1872–Jan. 13, 1873, during impeachment proceedings against the elected governor.
• Governor (elected): L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia, 1990–1994. The only other elected black governor has been Deval Patrick, Massachusetts, 2007–
• U.S. Representative: Joseph Rainey became a Congressman from South Carolina in 1870 and was reelected four more times. The first black female U.S. Representative was Shirley Chisholm, Congresswoman from New York, 1969–1983.
• U.S. Senator: Hiram Revels became Senator from Mississippi from Feb. 25, 1870, to March 4, 1871, during Reconstruction. Edward Brooke became the first African-American Senator since Reconstruction, 1966–1979. Carol Mosely Braun became the first black woman Senator serving from 1992–1998 for the state of Illinois. (There have only been a total of five black senators in U.S. history: the remaining two are Blanche K. Bruce [1875–1881] and Barack Obama (2005–2008).
• U.S. cabinet member: Robert C. Weaver, 1966–1968, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Lyndon Johnson; the first black female cabinet minister was Patricia Harris, 1977, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Jimmy Carter.
• U.S. Secretary of State: Gen. Colin Powell, 2001–2004. The first black female Secretary of State was Condoleezza Rice, 2005–2009.
• Major Party Nominee for President: Sen. Barack Obama, 2008. The Democratic Party selected him as its presidential nominee.
• U.S. President: Sen. Barack Obama. Obama defeated Sen. John McCain in the general election on November 4, 2008, and was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009.

African-American Firsts: Law

• Editor, Harvard Law Review: Charles Hamilton Houston, 1919. Barack Obama became the first President of the Harvard Law Review.
• Federal Judge: William Henry Hastie, 1946; Constance Baker Motley became the first black woman federal judge, 1966.
• U.S. Supreme Court Justice: Thurgood Marshall, 1967–1991. Clarence Thomas became the second African American to serve on the Court in 1991.

African-American Firsts: Diplomacy

• U.S. diplomat: Ebenezer D. Bassett, 1869, became minister-resident to Haiti; Patricia Harris became the first black female ambassador (1965; Luxembourg).
• U.S. Representative to the UN: Andrew Young (1977–1979).
• Nobel Peace Prize winner: Ralph J. Bunche received the prize in 1950 for mediating the Arab-Israeli truce. Martin Luther King, Jr., became the second African-American Peace Prize winner in 1964. (See King's Nobel acceptance speech.)

African-American Firsts: Military

• Combat pilot: Georgia-born Eugene Jacques Bullard, 1917, denied entry into the U.S. Army Air Corps because of his race, served throughout World War I in the French Flying Corps. He received the Legion of Honor, France's highest honor, among many other decorations.
• First Congressional Medal of Honor winner: Sgt. William H. Carney for bravery during the Civil War. He received his Congressional Medal of Honor in 1900.
• General: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1940–1948.
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell, 1989–1993.

African-American Firsts: Science and Medicine

• First patent holder: Thomas L. Jennings, 1821, for a dry-cleaning process. Sarah E. Goode, 1885, became the first African-American woman to receive a patent, for a bed that folded up into a cabinet.
• M.D. degree: James McCune Smith, 1837, University of Glasgow; Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864.
• Inventor of the blood bank: Dr. Charles Drew, 1940.
• Heart surgery pioneer: Daniel Hale Williams, 1893.
• First astronaut: Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 1967, was the first black astronaut, but he died in a plane crash during a training flight and never made it into space. Guion Bluford, 1983, became the first black astronaut to travel in space; Mae Jemison, 1992, became the first black female astronaut. Frederick D. Gregory, 1998, was the first African-American shuttle commander.

African-American Firsts: Scholarship

• College graduate (B.A.): Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1823, Middlebury College; first black woman to receive a B.A. degree: Mary Jane Patterson, 1862, Oberlin College.
• Ph.D.: Edward A. Bouchet, 1876, received a Ph.D. from Yale University. In 1921, three individuals became the first U.S. black women to earn Ph.D.s: Georgiana Simpson, University of Chicago; Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, University of Pennsylvania; and Eva Beatrice Dykes, Radcliffe College.
• Rhodes Scholar: Alain L. Locke, 1907.
• College president: Daniel A. Payne, 1856, Wilberforce University, Ohio.
• Ivy League president: Ruth Simmons, 2001, Brown University.

African-American Firsts: Literature

• Novelist: Harriet Wilson, Our Nig (1859).
• Poet: Lucy Terry, 1746, "Bar's Fight." It is her only surviving poem.
• Poet (published): Phillis Wheatley, 1773, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Considered the founder of African-American literature.
• Pulitzer Prize winner: Gwendolyn Brooks, 1950, won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.
• Pulitzer Prize winner in Drama: Charles Gordone, 1970, for his play No Place To Be Somebody.
• Nobel Prize for Literature winner: Toni Morrison, 1993.
• Poet Laureate: Robert Hayden, 1976–1978; first black woman Poet Laureate: Rita Dove, 1993–1995.

African-American Firsts: Music and Dance

• Member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan, 1945.
• Member of the Metropolitan Opera Company: Marian Anderson, 1955.
• Male Grammy Award winner: Count Basie, 1958.
• Female Grammy Award winner: Ella Fitzgerald, 1958.
• Principal dancer in a major dance company: Arthur Mitchell, 1959, New York City Ballet.

African-American Firsts: Film

• First Oscar: Hattie McDaniel, 1940, supporting actress, Gone with the Wind.
• Oscar, Best Actor/Actress: Sidney Poitier, 1963, Lilies of the Field; Halle Berry, 2001, Monster's Ball.
• Oscar, Best Actress Nominee: Dorothy Dandridge, 1954, Carmen Jones.
• Film director: Oscar Micheaux, 1919, wrote, directed, and produced The Homesteader, a feature film.
• Hollywood director: Gordon Parks directed and wrote The Learning Tree for Warner Brothers in 1969.

African-American Firsts: Television

• Network television show host: Nat King Cole, 1956, "The Nat King Cole Show"; Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman television host in 1986, "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
• Star of a network television show: Bill Cosby, 1965, "I Spy".

African-American Firsts: Sports

• Major league baseball player: Jackie Robinson, 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers.
• Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Jackie Robinson, 1962.
• NFL quarterback: Willie Thrower, 1953.
• NFL football coach: Fritz Pollard, 1922–1937.
• Golf champion: Tiger Woods, 1997, won the Masters golf tournament.
• NHL hockey player: Willie O'Ree, 1958, Boston Bruins.¹
• World cycling champion: Marshall W. "Major" Taylor, 1899.
• Tennis champion: Althea Gibson became the first black person to play in and win Wimbledon and the United States national tennis championship. She won both tournaments twice, in 1957 and 1958. In all, Gibson won 56 tournaments, including five Grand Slam singles events. The first black male champion was Arthur Ashe who won the 1968 U.S. Open, the 1970 Australian Open, and the 1975 Wimbledon championship.
• Heavyweight boxing champion: Jack Johnson, 1908.
• Olympic medalist (Summer games): George Poage, 1904, won two bronze medals in the 200 m hurdles and 400 m hurdles.
• Olympic gold medalist (Summer games): John Baxter "Doc" Taylor, 1908, won a gold medal as part of the 4 x 400 m relay team.
• Olympic gold medalist (Summer games; individual): DeHart Hubbard, 1924, for the long jump; the first woman was Alice Coachman, who won the high jump in 1948.
• Olympic medalist (Winter games): Debi Thomas, 1988, won the bronze in figure skating.
• Olympic gold medalist (Winter games): Vonetta Flowers, 2002, bobsled.
• Olympic gold medalist (Winter games; individual): Shani Davis, 2006, 1,000 m speedskating.

Other African-American Firsts

• Licensed Pilot: Bessie Coleman, 1921.
• Millionaire: Madame C. J. Walker.
• Billionaire: Robert Johnson, 2001, owner of Black Entertainment Television; Oprah Winfrey, 2003.
• Portrayal on a postage stamp: Booker T. Washington, 1940 (and also 1956).
• Miss America: Vanessa Williams, 1984, representing New York. When controversial photos surfaced and Williams resigned, Suzette Charles, the runner-up and also an African American, assumed the title. She represented New Jersey. Three additional African Americans have been Miss Americas: Debbye Turner (1990), Marjorie Vincent (1991), and Kimberly Aiken (1994).
• Explorer, North Pole: Matthew A. Henson, 1909, accompanied Robert E. Peary on the first successful U.S. expedition to the North Pole.
• Explorer, South Pole: George Gibbs, 1939–1941 accompanied Richard Byrd.
• Flight around the world: Barrington Irving, 2007, from Miami Gardens, Florida, flew a Columbia 400 plane named Inspiration around the world in 96 days, 150 hours (March 23-June 27).

1. O'Ree, the first black player in the NHL, was Canadian.

source: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html

Fact vs Rhetoric - Economy, Eugenics, Manifest Destiny, Jim Crow, Slavery and Reconstruction

• Myth - People were enslaved because they were somehow deficient or sub human
• Fact - Slavery - was and unfortunately still is an economic tool to acquire cheap labor

• Myth - The US was buit by skilled "white" people
• Fact - The skilled labor was the slave labor the "white" people were the business owners who used this labor to advance their business positions

• Myth - Slavery was a southern institution
• Fact - Slavery was a national institution - in the south you had plantation in the other parts of the country the servants lived in the house 1-2 per household

• Myth - Jim crow laws were passed to protect good "white" people from "black" people
• Fact - the laws were passed because the majority lost their free labor and the former servant now able to make their own money and being the skilled workers were no longer creating weath for the former owners rather for themselves and their families and were gaining political and economic power so the rules were put in place to allow the former group in control time to learn the skills needed to compete and earn a living - also there was fear that the former slaves would retaliate

• Myth - all "black" people were slaves, genetically inferior and incapable of functioning on a level equal to "whites"
• Fact - scientifically "race" as it is used is skin deep - just because someone shared a similar pigment does not mean they have anything in common with you and more often then not the more diverse a person's background the better equipped they are to survive (think of inbreeding as a worst case example). In fact historically speaking in the US many scientific discovered were the ideas of the slaves and/or servant and cooped by their "masters". Further in any arena where there is a level playing field (sports and others) a diverse group of people rise from various ethic groups to leadership

I could go on but lets get to the facts - people fear change. Also the former majority feared the former slaves would lash back at their former "master' in anger. The simple truth is the former slaves for the most part were obsessed with education and equity the very things denied them. Lets look at the rhetorics of the time vs the actions actions that took place

Rhetoric:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jim_Crow_law_examples_by_State

Fact:

1863 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation

African american accomplishments 1863-1900

Many schools were established to educate the former slaves - BACKGROUND OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Prior to the Civil War, there was no structured higher education system for black students. Public policy and certain statutory provisions prohibited the education of blacks in various parts of the nation. The Institute for Colored Youth, the first higher education institution for blacks, was founded in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, in 1837. It was followed by two other black institutions--Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania (1854), and Wilberforce University, in Ohio (1856).

Although these institutions were called universities" or "institutes" fromtheir founding, a major part of their mission in the early years was to provide elementary and secondary schooling for students who had no previous education. It was not until the early 1900s that HBCUs began to offer courses and programs at the postsecondary level.

This list of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) lists institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 (Red = founded before 1900)

School	City	State	Founded	Type	Religious Affiliation	Comment
Alabama A&M University	Normal	Alabama	1875	Public		Founded as "Colored Normal School at Huntsville"
Alabama State University	Montgomery	Alabama	1867	Public		Founded as "Lincoln Normal School of Marion"
Albany State University	Albany	Georgia	1903	Public		Founded as "Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute"
Alcorn State University	Lorman	Mississippi	1871	Public		Founded as "Alcorn University" in honor of James L. Alcorn
Allen University	Columbia	South Carolina	1870	Private	African Methodist Episcopal	Founded as "Payne Institute"
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	Pine Bluff	Arkansas	1873	Public		Founded as "Branch Normal College"
Arkansas Baptist College	Little Rock	Arkansas	1884	Private	Baptist	Founded as "Minister’s Institute"[2]
Barber-Scotia College	Concord	North Carolina	1867	Private	Presbyterian	Founded as two institutions, Scotia Seminary and Barber Memorial College
Benedict College	Columbia	South Carolina	1870	Private	American Baptist Churches USA	Founded as "Benedict Institute"
Bennett College	Greensboro	North Carolina	1873	Private	United Methodist Church
Bethune-Cookman University	Daytona Beach	Florida	1904	Private	United Methodist Church	Founded as "Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls"
Bishop State Community College	Mobile	Alabama	1927	Public		Originally a branch of Alabama State College
Bluefield State College	Bluefield	West Virginia	1895	Public		Founded as "Bluefield Colored Institute"
Bowie State University	Bowie	Maryland	1865	Public		Founded as "Baltimore Normal School"
Central State University	Wilberforce	Ohio	1887	Public	AME Church	Originally a department at Wilberforce University[3]
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania	Cheyney	Pennsylvania	1837	Public		Founded as "Institute for Colored Youth"
Claflin University	Orangeburg	South Carolina	1869	Private	United Methodist Church
Clark Atlanta University	Atlanta	Georgia	1865	Private	United Methodist Church	Originally two institutions, Clark College and Atlanta University
Clinton Junior College	Rock Hill	South Carolina	1894	Private	AME Zion	Founded as "Clinton Institute"[4]
Coahoma Community College	Coahoma County	Mississippi	1924	Public		Founded as "Coahoma County Agricultural High School"
Concordia College, Selma	Selma	Alabama	1922	Private	Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod	Known as "Alabama Lutheran Academy and Junior College" until 1981
Coppin State University	Baltimore	Maryland	1900	Public		Founded as "Colored High School"
Delaware State University	Dover	Delaware	1891	Public		Founded as "The State College for Colored Students"
Denmark Technical College	Denmark	South Carolina	1947	Public		Founded as "Denmark Area Trade School"[5]
Dillard University	New Orleans	Louisiana	1869	Private	United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church	Founding predecessor institutions: "Straight University" and "Union Normal School"
University of the District of Columbia	Washington	District of Columbia	1851	Public		Founded as "Miner Normal School"
Edward Waters College	Jacksonville	Florida	1866	Private	AME Church	Founded as "Brown Theological Institute"
Elizabeth City State University	Elizabeth City	North Carolina	1891	Public
Fayetteville State University	Fayetteville	North Carolina	1867	Public		Founded as "Howard School"
Fisk University	Nashville	Tennessee	1866	Private	United Church of Christ [6]	Named for Clinton Bowen Fisk
Florida A&M	Tallahassee	Florida	1887	Public		Founded as "State Normal College for Colored Students"
Florida Memorial University	Miami Gardens	Florida	1879	Private	American Baptist	Founded as "Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak"
Fort Valley State University	Fort Valley	Georgia	1895	Public		Founded as "Fort Valley High and Industrial School"
Gadsden State Community College	Gadsden	Alabama	1925	Public		Founded as "Alabama School of Trades"
Grambling State University	Grambling	Louisiana	1901	Public		Founded as "Colored Industrial and Agricultural School"
Hampton University	Hampton	Virginia	1868	Private		Founded as "Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute"
Harris-Stowe State University	St. Louis	Missouri	1857	Public		Founded as "St. Louis Normal School"[7]
Hinds Community College at Utica	Utica	Mississippi	1903	Public		Founded as "Utica Junior College"
Howard University	Washington	District of Columbia	1867	Private
Huston-Tillotson University	Austin	Texas	1881	Private	United Methodist Church /United Church of Christ	Founded as "Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute"
Interdenominational Theological Center	Atlanta	Georgia	1958	Private	Interdenominational
J. F. Drake State Technical College	Huntsville	Alabama	1961	Public		Founded as "Huntsville State Vocational Technical School"
Jackson State University	Jackson	Mississippi	1877	Public	Founded as "Natchez Seminary"
Jarvis Christian College	Hawkins	Texas	1912	Private	The Disciples
Johnson C. Smith University	Charlotte	North Carolina	1867	Private	Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)	Founded as "Biddle Memorial Institute"
Kentucky State University	Frankfort	Kentucky	1886	Public		Founded as "State Normal School for Colored Persons"
Knoxville College	Knoxville (Mechanicsville)	Tennessee	1875	Private	United Presbyterian Church of North America
Lane College	Jackson	Tennessee	1882	Private	Christian Methodist Episcopal Church	Founded as "Colored Methodist Episcopal High School"[8]
Langston University	Langston	Oklahoma	1897	Public		Founded as "Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University"
Lawson State Community College	Bessemer	Alabama	1949	Public
LeMoyne-Owen College	Memphis	Tennessee	1862	Private	United Church of Christ	Founded as "LeMoyne Normal and Commercial School"[9] (elementary school until 1870)
Lewis College of Business	Detroit	Michigan	1928	Private		Founded as "Lewis Business College"[10]
Lincoln University	Chester County	Pennsylvania	1854	Public		Founded as "Ashmun Institute"
Lincoln University of Missouri	Jefferson City	Missouri	1866	Public		Founded as "Lincoln Institute"[11]
Livingstone College	Salisbury	North Carolina	1879	Private	AME Zion	Founded as "Zion Wesley Institute"
University of Maryland Eastern Shore	Princess Anne	Maryland	1886	Public	Originally: Methodist Episcopal	Founded as "Delaware Conference Academy"
Meharry Medical College	Nashville	Tennessee	1876	Private	United Methodist Church	Founded as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College
Miles College	Fairfield	Alabama	1905	Private	CME Church	Known as "Miles Memorial College" until 1941
Mississippi Valley State University	Itta Bena	Mississippi	1950	Public		Founded as "Mississippi Vocational College"
Morehouse College	Atlanta	Georgia	1867	Private	Baptist	Founded as "Augusta Institute"
Morehouse School of Medicine	Atlanta	Georgia	1975	Private		Founded originally as a part of Morehouse College
Morgan State University	Baltimore	Maryland	1867	Public	Originally: Methodist Episcopal	Founded as "Centenary Biblical Institute"
Morris Brown College	Vine City	Georgia	1881	Private	African Methodist Episcopal Church
Morris College	Sumter	South Carolina	1908	Private	Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention
Norfolk State University	Norfolk	Virginia	1935	Public		Founded as "Norfolk Unit of Virginia Union University"[12]
North Carolina A&T State University	Greensboro	North Carolina	1891	Public
North Carolina Central University	Durham	North Carolina	1910	Public		Founded as "National Religious Training School and Chautauqua"
Oakwood University	Huntsville	Alabama	1896	Private	Seventh-day Adventist	Founded as "Oakwood Industrial School"
Paine College	Augusta	Georgia	1882	Private	United Methodist Church and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church	Founded as "Paine Institute"
Paul Quinn College	Dallas	Texas	1872	Private	AME Church	Named for William Paul Quinn
Philander Smith College	Little Rock	Arkansas	1877	Private	United Methodist Church	Founded as "Walden Seminary"
Prairie View A&M University	Prairie View	Texas	1876	Public		Founded as "Alta Vista Agriculture & Mechanical College for Colored Youth"[13]
Rust College	Holly Springs	Mississippi	1866	Private	United Methodist Church	Known as "Shaw University" until 1882
Saint Paul's College	Lawrenceville	Virginia	1888	Private	Protestant Episcopal Church	Founded as "Saint Paul Normal and Industrial School"
Savannah State University	Savannah	Georgia	1890	Public		Founded as "Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth"
Selma University	Selma	Alabama	1878	Private	Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention	Founded as "Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School"
Shaw University	Raleigh	North Carolina	1865	Private	National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
Shelton State Community College	Tuscaloosa	Alabama	1952	Public		Founded as "J.P. Shelton Trade School"
South Carolina State University	Orangeburg	South Carolina	1896	Public		Founded as "Colored, Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina"
Southern University at New Orleans	New Orleans	Louisiana	1959	Public		Founded as a branch unit of Southern University in Baton Rouge
Southern University at Shreveport	Shreveport	Louisiana	1967	Public		Part of the Southern University System
Southern University and A&M College	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	1881	Public		Conceptualized by P. B. S. Pinchback, T. T. Allain, and Henry Demas
Southwestern Christian College	Terrell	Texas	1948	Private	Church of Christ	Founded as "Southern Bible Institute"[14]
Spelman College	Atlanta	Georgia	1881	Private		Founded as "Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary"
St. Augustine's College	Raleigh	North Carolina	1867	Private	Episcopal Church (United States)
St. Philip's College	San Antonio	Texas	1898	Public	Episcopal Church	Founded as "St. Philip's Sewing Class for Girls"[15]
Stillman College	Tuscaloosa	Alabama	1876	Private
Talladega College	Talladega County	Alabama	1867	Private	United Church of Christ	Known as as "Swayne School" until 1869
Tennessee State University	Nashville	Tennessee	1912	Public		Founded as "Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School"
Texas College	Tyler	Texas	1894	Private	Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Texas Southern University	Houston	Texas	1947	Public		Founded as "Texas State University for Negroes"
Tougaloo College	Hinds County	Mississippi	1869	Private	American Missionary Association	Founded as "Tougaloo University"
Trenholm State Technical College	Montgomery	Alabama	1947	Public		Founded as "John M. Patterson Technical School"[16]
Tuskegee University	Tuskegee	Alabama	1881	Private
University of the Virgin Islands	St. Croix & St. Thomas	United States Virgin Islands	1962	Public		Founded as "College of the Virgin Islands"
Virginia State University	Petersburg	Virginia	1882	Public		Founded as "Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute at Petersburg"
Virginia Union University	Richmond	Virginia	1865	Private	American Baptist Churches USA	Founded as "Wayland Seminary"[17]
Virginia University of Lynchburg	Lynchburg	Virginia	1886	Private	Baptist	Founded as "Lynchburg Baptist Seminary"
Voorhees College	Denmark	South Carolina	1897	Private	Episcopal Church	Founded as "Denmark Industrial School"
West Virginia State University	Kanawha County	West Virginia	1891	Public		Founded as "West Virginia Colored Institute"
Wilberforce University	Wilberforce	Ohio	1856	Private	AME Church	Named for William Wilberforce
Wiley College	Marshall	Texas	1873	Private	Methodist Episcopal Church	Named for Isaac William Wiley
Winston-Salem State University	Winston-Salem	North Carolina	1892	Public		Founded as "Slater Industrial and State Normal School"
Xavier University of Louisiana	New Orleans	Louisiana	1915	Private	Roman Catholic	Founding predecessor institutions: "St. Katharine Drexel" and the "Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament"

Defunct institutions

School	City	State	Founded	Type	Religious Affiliation	Comment
Bishop College	Dallas	Texas	1881	Private	Baptist Home Mission Society	Founded in Marshall, Texas; later moved to Dallas. Closed in 1988.
Daniel Payne College	Birmingham	Alabama	1889	Private	African Methodist Episcopal Church	Closed in 1979
Guadalupe College	Seguin	Texas	1884	Private	Texas Missionary Baptist General Convention	Ceased operation in the 20th century
Kittrell College	Kittrell	North Carolina	1886	Private	African Methodist Episcopal Church	Closed in 1975
Mount Hermon Female Seminary	Clinton	Mississippi	1875	Private	American Missionary Association	Closed in 1924
Storer College	Harpers Ferry	West Virginia	1865	Public		Closed in 1955
Western University (Kansas)	Quindaro	Kansas	1865	Private	African Methodist Episcopal Church	Closed in 1943

The Reconstruction Amendments are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, adopted between 1865 and 1870, the five years immediately following the Civil War. This group of Amendments is sometimes referred to as the "Civil War Amendments" or the "Three Reconstruction Era Amendments".

The Amendments were intended to restructure the United States from a country that was (in Abraham Lincoln's words) "half slave and half free" to one in which the constitutionally guaranteed "blessings of liberty" would be extended to the entire male populace, including the former slaves and their descendants.

The Thirteenth Amendment (both proposed and ratified in 1865) abolished slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment (proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868) included the Privileges or Immunities Clause, Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. The Fifteenth Amendment, (proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870) grants voting rights regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".

• Legislation from 1790 - 1900
• Goto http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp and enter years from 1870 - March 3, 1879
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870_United_States_Census
• African-American Inventors (partial list)