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Homecoming: A Celebration of HBCUs and Their Legacies

The first colleges for African Americans were established largely through the efforts of the Freedmen’s Bureau and Black churches and missionary organizations such as the American Missionary Association. The second Morrill Act of 1890 required states—especially former Confederate states—to provide land-grants for institutions for Black students if admission was not allowed elsewhere. As a result, many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were founded.

Between 1861 and 1900 more than 90 institutions of higher learning were established. Shaw University—founded in Raleigh, N.C., in 1865—was the first Black college organized after the Civil War.

HBCUs are defined by the Higher Education Act of 1965 as “any historically Black college or university established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education].”

Before the Civil War, when the majority of African Americans in the United States were enslaved, educational opportunities for African Americans in the South were virtually non-existent, particularly for higher education. Those like Frederick Douglass who did pursue an education in spite of it being illegal for him to do so --were forced to study informally and often on their own. In 1837, a group of Philadelphia Quakers concerned that African Americans in the North were having a difficult time competing for jobs against the influx of immigrants, created the Institute for Colored Youth. It was the first institution of higher learning for African Americans. We know it today as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.

The next crucial moment for African American higher education came in the years between the Civil War and World War I when the nation made a commitment to university studies across the country, predominately due to the government’s “land-grants” to help states form colleges and universities. Unprecedented funds poured into the creation of public colleges and universities, but few of these emerging institutions were open or inviting to African American students.

This left the African American community to spearhead their own movement toward higher education. With the support of the American Missionary Association and the Freedmen’s Bureau, seven Black colleges had been founded by 1870. Many of these, including Fisk University (1866), Howard University (1867), Claflin University (1869), and Dillard University (1869) are still graduating students today.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are one important pillar of the Black experience. Most were created during and after the Reconstruction era of the 19th century and they are a direct product of a segregated society. Today, we often celebrate their cultural pageantry affiliated with high stepping bands, fraternity and sorority step shows, and the yearly rituals of campus homecomings. However, it is their role in producing social movements and reshaping the contours of American democracy that are among their most important contributions. Here are five ways in which HBCUs have directly impacted the struggle for Black liberation in America.

The Moment When Four Students Sat Down to Take a Stand

On February 1, 1960, four African American college students—Ezell A. Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond—sat down at this "whites only" lunch counter at the Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. Their request was refused, and when asked to leave, the students remained in their seats in protest.

Ain’t no telling where I may be / Might see me in D.C. / At Howard homecoming / With my man, Capone, dumbing. American Rapper

The Alumni Mixer

Scores of esteemed scholars have graduated from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which also have fostered many important political movements. Notable academics like Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois, both HBCU alumni, used their respective universities to advance discussions about overcoming racial prejudice and uplifting the African American community. Great leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement—Stokely Carmichael, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Joseph Lowery and Diane Nash, to name a few—were educated and nurtured on HBCU campuses.

W. E. B. Dubois, Fisk University

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, socialist, historian and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist.

Kenya Barris, Clark Atlanta University

Kenya Barris is an American film and television writer, producer, director and actor. 

Spike Lee, Morehouse College

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.

Megan Thee Stallion, Texas Southern University

Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper.

Andre Leon Talley, North Carolina Central University

Andre Leon Talley was an American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine. 

Stokely Carmichael, Howard University

Stokely Carmichael was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. 

Booker T. Washington, Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University)

Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator and adviser to several presidents of the United States. He founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1881.

Stephen A. Smith, Winston-Salem State University

Stephen Anthony Smith is an American sports television personality, sports radio host and sports journalist.

Ron McNair, North Carolina A&T State University

NASA/Space Frontiers/Getty Images

Astronaut and physicist Ronald McNair died on January 28, 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after launching from the Kennedy Space Center. McNair was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Toni Morrison, Howard University

Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist.  She won the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award for Song of Solomon (1977) and the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987). In 1993 Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature, making her the first black woman to become a Nobel laureate.

Amy Sherald, Clark Atlanta University

Amy Sherald is an American painter who documents the contemporary African American experience through portraits.

Taraji P. Henson, Howard University

Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage

Taraji P. Henson is an Academy Award-nominated actress, producer, and mental health advocate. 

Jesse Jackson, North Carolina A&T State University

 Jesse Jackson is an American political activist, Baptist minister and politician. 

Stacey Abrams, Spelman College

Stacey Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist and author.

Samuel L. Jackson, Morehouse College

Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the world's most recognizable actors, known for his work in films including Jungle Fever, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. 

Michael Strahan, Texas Southern University

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Michael Strahan is an American television personality, journalist and former professional football player. 

Common, Florida A&M University

Getty Images/Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known by his stage name Common, is a rapper, actor, and activist.

Ruth Simmons, Dillard University

Credit: Rocky Kneten Photography

Ruth J. Simmons, professor, author and president emerita of Prairie View A&M, Brown University and Smith College. Simmons received a bachelor's degree from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana and a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard.

Barbara Jordan, Texas Southern University

Johnson Publishing Company Archive. J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Barbara Jordan was a lawyer, politician, and university professor from Houston, Texas.

Marian Wright Edelman, Spelman College

Marian Wright Edelman is an American activist for civil rights and children's rights.

Langston Hughes

Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Couresty J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Langston Hughes (1901-1967) was a poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, columnist, and a significant figure of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a graduate of Lincoln University, a historically Black college in Pennsylvania.

Born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902, it was the writer's many years in Harlem that would come to characterize his work. There he focused squarely on the lives of working-class Black Americans, delicately dismantling clichés and, in doing so, arriving at a genuine portrayal of the people he knew best.

John Lewis, American Baptist Theological Seminary (now American Baptist College) and Fisk University

Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy of J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

John Lewis was a longtime Atlanta, Georgia Congressman, and civil rights champion. He graduated from Fisk University and the American Baptist Theological Seminary (now American Baptist College), both in Nashville.

Pinky Cole, Clark Atlanta University

Aisha "Pinky" Cole is owner and operator of a plant-based burger restaurant chain in Atlanta, Georgia.

Katherine Johnson, West Virginia State University

Katherine Johnson was an influential NASA mathematician who calculated the flight path for America’s first space mission.

W. E. B. Dubois, Fisk University

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, socialist, historian and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist.

Kenya Barris, Clark Atlanta University

Kenya Barris is an American film and television writer, producer, director and actor. 

Spike Lee, Morehouse College

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.

Megan Thee Stallion, Texas Southern University

Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper.

Andre Leon Talley, North Carolina Central University

Andre Leon Talley was an American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine. 

Stokely Carmichael, Howard University

Stokely Carmichael was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. 

Booker T. Washington, Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University)

Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator and adviser to several presidents of the United States. He founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1881.

Stephen A. Smith, Winston-Salem State University

Stephen Anthony Smith is an American sports television personality, sports radio host and sports journalist.

Ron McNair, North Carolina A&T State University

NASA/Space Frontiers/Getty Images

Astronaut and physicist Ronald McNair died on January 28, 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after launching from the Kennedy Space Center. McNair was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Toni Morrison, Howard University

Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist.  She won the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award for Song of Solomon (1977) and the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987). In 1993 Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature, making her the first black woman to become a Nobel laureate.

Amy Sherald, Clark Atlanta University

Amy Sherald is an American painter who documents the contemporary African American experience through portraits.

Taraji P. Henson, Howard University

Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage

Taraji P. Henson is an Academy Award-nominated actress, producer, and mental health advocate. 

Jesse Jackson, North Carolina A&T State University

 Jesse Jackson is an American political activist, Baptist minister and politician. 

Stacey Abrams, Spelman College

Stacey Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist and author.

Samuel L. Jackson, Morehouse College

Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the world's most recognizable actors, known for his work in films including Jungle Fever, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. 

Michael Strahan, Texas Southern University

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Michael Strahan is an American television personality, journalist and former professional football player. 

Common, Florida A&M University

Getty Images/Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known by his stage name Common, is a rapper, actor, and activist.

Ruth Simmons, Dillard University

Credit: Rocky Kneten Photography

Ruth J. Simmons, professor, author and president emerita of Prairie View A&M, Brown University and Smith College. Simmons received a bachelor's degree from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana and a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard.

Barbara Jordan, Texas Southern University

Johnson Publishing Company Archive. J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Barbara Jordan was a lawyer, politician, and university professor from Houston, Texas.

Marian Wright Edelman, Spelman College

Marian Wright Edelman is an American activist for civil rights and children's rights.

Langston Hughes

Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Couresty J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Langston Hughes (1901-1967) was a poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, columnist, and a significant figure of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a graduate of Lincoln University, a historically Black college in Pennsylvania.

Born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902, it was the writer's many years in Harlem that would come to characterize his work. There he focused squarely on the lives of working-class Black Americans, delicately dismantling clichés and, in doing so, arriving at a genuine portrayal of the people he knew best.

John Lewis, American Baptist Theological Seminary (now American Baptist College) and Fisk University

Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy of J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

John Lewis was a longtime Atlanta, Georgia Congressman, and civil rights champion. He graduated from Fisk University and the American Baptist Theological Seminary (now American Baptist College), both in Nashville.

Pinky Cole, Clark Atlanta University

Aisha "Pinky" Cole is owner and operator of a plant-based burger restaurant chain in Atlanta, Georgia.

Katherine Johnson, West Virginia State University

Katherine Johnson was an influential NASA mathematician who calculated the flight path for America’s first space mission.

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Share Your Story

Do you have distinct memories of your homecoming experience at a Historically Black College or University? Visit the Community Curation Platform, sign up for a free account, and help us celebrate HBCUs!

Sign Up and Share Your Story about Share Your Story

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Share Your Story

Coronations? Parades? Halftime performances? Preserve your memories for the next generation with our Community Curation Program, an initiative of the museum’s Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History funded by Robert F. Smith.

Sign Up and Share Your Story about Share Your Story

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Share Your Story

In October, the Smith Center will provide digitization services to local partners in Nashville including the city’s revered HBCUs. Alumni of Fisk, Meharry Medical College, American Baptist College, and Tennessee State University are especially encouraged to submit photos and videos about your homecoming experiences.

Sign Up and Share Your Story about Share Your Story

Stepping, a ritual dance performance based on synchronized movements and linked to African cultural traditions, originated among Black fraternities in the mid-1900s. It developed as a way for African American fraternities and sororities to express love and pride for their respective organizations to a broader community.

The impact of Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) fraternities and sororities cannot be overstated for undergraduates, graduates, and alumni. Lifelong friendships and career network opportunities are formed in the National Pan-Hellenic Council (today known as the “Divine 9”), which includes Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, Phi Beta Sigma, Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho and Iota Phi Theta.

A Map of all Historically Black Colleges and Universities

View the locations and founding dates of HBCUs in the United States

"I first witnessed this power out on the Yard, that communal green space in the center of the campus where the students gathered and I saw everything I knew of my Black self multiplied out into seemingly endless variations."

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me

Whether it’s called the Hill, Quad, Block, or other nicknames, the center or main part of a campus often is affectionately known as the Yard. It’s the site for plenty of activities—many formal and informal gatherings. Flanked by several major buildings, the Yard is a chief open space for students, faculty and the general public to commune.

5 You Should Know: NFL Legends Who Went to HBCUs

In recognition of the storied HBCU homecoming season, we’ve highlighted five African American scholar-athletes who carried on the tradition of Tank Younger, the first player to get drafted in the NFL from an HBCU. These five scholar-athletes broke barriers, set records, and changed the game.

Sports and marching bands are two distinctive and celebrated features of many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). At these universities, sports and marching bands are an essential part of college life, and even figure prominently in prospective students' decisions to attend certain universities today.  

HBCU football programs were major producers of elite football talent throughout the 1970s. These institutions’ commitment to investing in the top African American athletes became a draw for both potential students and recruiters. In addition to developing top-level players, these programs allowed aspects of African American culture to blossom on and off the field. 

Sports, style and technique came together during athletic halftime performances. These performances included themed Battle of the Bands competitions, step-show contests, and fraternity and sorority traditions. Football rivalries created opportunities for alumni and fans to express unique pride in their institutions.

5 You Should Know: NFL Legends Who Went to HBCUs

In recognition of the storied HBCU homecoming season, we’ve highlighted five African American scholar-athletes who carried on the tradition of Tank Younger, the first player to get drafted in the NFL from an HBCU. These five scholar-athletes broke barriers, set records, and changed the game.

Musical Life at HBCUs

Generations of dedicated educators and performers have made HBCUs into hubs of musical life. In the South during the Jim Crow Era, when many concert venues were off-limits for Black people, HBCUs welcomed Black audiences into musical performances that would have been inaccessible otherwise. HBCUs have also been essential training grounds for Black musicians in genres ranging from classical to jazz and R&B.

Homecoming games are also where enthusiastic marching bands display their fierce musical talent and highly spirited styles. They are focal points of school spirit, pride, and student camaraderie.

The halftime performance at Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) football games has become an important extension of the athletic contests. Beginning in the 1940s, HBCU bands began to break from the traditions of military-inspired marching bands by incorporating dancing and upbeat music into halftime shows. A catalyst for this change in style was cemented with the creation of Florida A&M’s Marching 100 in 1946.

The Marching Band
The band is one of the most celebrated groups at an HBCU. Tuskegee Institute, now known as Tuskegee University, has one of the oldest continually active HBCU bands. Some of the legendary musical directors for the Marching Crimson Pipers include Dr. William P. Foster, who directed Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 from 1946 until his retirement in 1998, and Edward L. Graves, who served as band director at Tennessee State University for 34 years. Distinguished Tuskegee band alumni include writer Ralph Ellison, music icon Lionel Ritchie, former Georgia State Senator Floyd Griffin, Jr., and Conrad “Hutch” Hutchinson Jr., the legendary band director of Grambling State University’s World Famed Tiger Marching Band.

The Majorettes
Rhythmic dance troupes strut, stomp, sway, sashay in energetic choreographed routines, decked out in bedazzled, decked out uniforms. Their styles and dance moves - influenced by military step, jazz, West African and hip hop - engage crowds. Generations of HBCU homecoming crowds have enjoyed the performances of dancers such as the Southern University Dancing Dolls, Jackson State University’s Prancing J-Settes, and Alcorn State’s Golden Girls.

Musical Life at HBCUs

Generations of dedicated educators and performers have made HBCUs into hubs of musical life. In the South during the Jim Crow Era, when many concert venues were off-limits for Black people, HBCUs welcomed Black audiences into musical performances that would have been inaccessible otherwise. HBCUs have also been essential training grounds for Black musicians in genres ranging from classical to jazz and R&B.

The Closing Chapel Service

Founded with the support of the Freedmen’s Bureau and church and missionary organizations, like the American Missionary Association, the various Baptist conventions, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) made religious study a part of their instruction. 

They made a significant impact on Black faith communities by placing an emphasis on students’ spiritual development and through theological education. Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays,  one of the notable presidents of Morehouse College and dean of Howard University’s School of Religion, Mays played an integral role in religious education. Influencing religious leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 1955 Mays wrote “Who Will Preach to Negroes in 1980” as a way of discussing the importance of religious education as a means of tackling social issues. In 1958, he helped establish the Interdenominational Theological Center at the Atlanta University Center, welcoming seminarians from various denominations across the country.

Gospel Choirs
These campuses grew into foundational sites for Black choirs following Emancipation, with HBCU singers gaining international success. Choirs, including those at Hampton Institute (later Hampton University) and the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University, used performance proceeds to “sing up” buildings on their campuses and promote Black education globally. In 1873 for instance, the Jubilee Singers earned enough money to construct Fisk’s first permanent building, Jubilee Hall. Many of the early musical selections consisted of “slave songs” and were instrumental in preserving this unique American musical tradition known today as “Negro spirituals.”

Applications Open for Fellowship for HBCU Graduates

The Robert Frederick Smith Applied Public History Fellowship for HBCU Graduates offers a two-year appointment providing advanced training and scholarly support in public history, museum management, outreach programming, and partnership building.


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