Today in Black History....
In 1866, Fisk University opened for classes in
Nashville, Tennessee. Barely six months after the end of the Civil War and just
two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, three men - John Ogden, the
Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, and the Reverend Edward P. Smith - established
the Fisk School in Nashville, name in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk of the
Tennessee Freedmens Bureau, an abolitionist who helped establish the first free
public schools in the south for white AND African-American children. General
Fisk also provided the new institution with facilities in former Union Army
barracks near the present site of Nashvilles Union Station. In 1954, Fisk
became the first private black college accredited for its music programs by the
National Association of Schools of Music.
Famous Fisk alumni include Johnetta B. Cole, Mayor Marion
Barry, John Hope Franklin, WEB DuBois, Congressman John Lewis, Nikki Giovani
and Ida B. Wells.
In 1873, Delaware's Convention of Colored People convened
in Dover to demand equal educational opportunities. The delegates adopted a
powerful resolution condemning schooling discrimination: "From our
population of over twenty thousand souls, or nearly one-fifth the entire
population of the State, the Legislature does not provide a solitary school,
nor appropriate a single dollar of State money. We hold this discrimination as
against the genius of government; insulting to the laws of Congress;
detrimental to the best interests of the State, and outrageous to the colored
tax payers."This convention was part of the larger Colored Conventions
Movement, which ran from 1830 to 1888. These gatherings of Black leaders and
citizens addressed crucial issues like education, labor rights, and civil
liberties, highlighting Black agency and organizational power in the fight for
equality
In 1914, Phi Beta Sigma was founded at Howard University in Washington, DC. by three young African-American male students - A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse and Charles I. Brown. The founders wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would exemplify the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship and service. the fraternity is the only one of its kind to aid in the creation and hold a consitutional bond with a African-American sorority. The Founders wanted its organization to be a part of the community as opposed to apart from the community. Their deep conviction for community service is embodied in its motto, "Culture for Service and Service for Humanity."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_B._Fisk
http://www.fisk.edu/
http://www.pbs1914.org/history/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Beta_Sigma
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/convention-of-colored-people-discuss-education/
