This collection explores the educational legacies of HBCUs through a selection of items related to the administrative functions of the institutions, academic outputs, pedagogy, curriculum, and student works.
Description
HBCUs distinguished themselves in various fields of study by broadening the scope of their institutional goals and diversifying academic offerings to reflect the growing needs of students, scholars, and the communities they serve.
Date Modified
2025-09-12
About This Record
The HCAC public history focused digital archive cataloging is an ongoing process, and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. We welcome your comments and feedback if you have more information to share about an item featured on the site, please contact us at: HCAC-DigiTeam@si.edu
12-page document reprinted from Missionary Review of the World. Contains an informational table on the economic, educational, and religious progress of African Americans from 1866 and 1922. Also includes photos and an informational map depicting Black population and education.
This photograph shows a young Carroll Harris Simms, with many of his sculptures, as an art student at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Simms received his BFA and MFA from Cranbrook, where he was the first African American graduate. Simms recalled the way student and faculty advocates helped him integrate the school. In 1950, Simms came to Texas Southern to help Dr. John T. Biggers run the art department; Simms taught pottery, sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry making classes.
A list of questions to establish the procedures for cataloging the Good Old Days Oral History Project into the Library of Congress. Details include description and scope of the project, the size of the collection, research restrictions, and proper citation.
Harper T. Phillips was an artist from Courtland, AL. Discernment is a vivid landscape of surrealism (or a surrealist landscape). The right side has a white background displaying relationships between religion and science. The left black side shows connections between morality and mortality.
The final report on the Good Old Days Oral History project prepared by members of the Jackson State University History department and Center for Urban Affairs. The report was given to the sponsors of the project, the Mississippi American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
A construction front elevation drawing blueprint of the Library Building at Wiley University. This drawing the front face of the building depciting stone placement, brick placement, window and light placements, and pillars.
A white and balck architectural drawing created by Robert R. Taylor in 1910 for a dormitory/dining hall for Mississppi Industrial College. The drawing scale is 1/4' 1 foot 0 inches. This drawing shows in depth measurements regarding stair, wall, ground elevations as well as the brick type for the building.
Oliver created this notebook for an undergraduate English course. The notebook, which he made and bound by hand, includes the artist’s interpretation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s play, Faust, a Tragedy, and several original illustrations to accompany his writing.
A list of questions to guide the interviewer’s through the recording of oral histories in the Good Old Days project, a series of interviews with senior citizens who talk about their lives, times, achievements, and challenges from their early childhood through the various stages of life. The questions cover topics such as religion, education, etc.
Noah is a Cameroonian artist who had a residency at TSU in Spring 2023. The work was inspired by Bamiléké masquerades and the Demeure 5 costume by Étienne-Martin, and is made of materials from second-hand shops in Houston. Noah wore the costume during an interactive procession down the Tiger Walk, TSU’s central campus walkway. The costume became part of the exhibition, Memory Palaces: Creations of Franck Kemkeng Noah.
This image was captured by Earlie Hudnall, Jr., longtime TSU campus photographer and student of Dr. Biggers. This photo is of Biggers’ mural Family Unity, located on TSU’s campus in the student center dining hall. The mural was commissioned by the student body in the mid-1970s, and reflects themes of family, ancestry, and rural & urban house structures.
This photograph by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. shows John Biggers seated with boys on a porch. The setting is Laurel, MS, where the men stopped during a road trip on their way to Gastonia, North Carolina, Biggers' hometown. Lacking proper materials, Hudnall stored the negative in water in a McDonald's cup until he could develop it.
This drawing by Vernon Simmons depicts a kuduo, vessels owned by kings in Akan kingdoms (modern-day Ghana), adorned by tortoises, a sign of longevity. The central figure seated under the umbrella is the nana, a ruler of the Akan people; he is surrounded by attendants. Dr. Biggers was an avid collector of African art and he used pieces from his collection as teaching tools for his students.
Mr. Lee moved to Dreyfus Street in the Farish Street Historic District in 1924. He attended schools in the district and eventually served as Vice President of Administration at Jackson State for many years. He talks about his time living in the district and the social and cultural life there, including businesses, churches, and music.
A list of all the interviews conducted as part of the Farish Street Oral History Project and a short essay outlining the history of the Farish Street Historic District.
Biggers’ drawing shows several linked and overlapping human figures, with babies within the open space their bodies create. Above their heads, children divide and multiply like cells. The lower half of the drawing resembles the shape of the female reproductive system. Biggers called this form the "morning star." A very similar image to this piece appears in Biggers’ mural Family Unity. His artwork often emphasizes themes of motherhood, family, and life cycles.
James H. Malone was a graphic artist, cartoonist, writer, and painter from Winterville, GA. My Classmate is a portrait drawing of a young Black boy in a school uniform. He sits in a chair with his hands on his lap, looking at the bottom left corner.
The Negro Yearbooks was an annual encyclopedia of the Negro published at Tuskegee University from 1912-1952. This chapter describes the history of slavery, abolition and freedom in the United States from 1645 to 1865.
A List of interviews conducted as part of the "Good Old Days" Oral History Project. Each entry in the bibliography includes the name of the interviewee as well as biographical information, interview date, interviewer name, length of interview, and catalog number.
Materials from an oral history workshop held at Jackson State University in conjunction with the Clinton Project Oral History Collection. Includes staff handbook, reading assignments, and schedules.
Al Tyler was an artist known for his figurative murals and landscape paintings. Prayer for Freedom shows two scenes from the fight for Civil Rights. On the left, black and white people are leaving a courthouse, and on the right, armed officials are stopping Black men from entering a building.
“Queen Rabbit,” by Earl Jones, features a mythical female rabbit. The center of the body includes an oval-like opening with identical circular holes on the legs and feet, creating balance. The rabbit’s ears are constructed with a removable crown piece; the same technique is used in several busts created by other Texas Southern artists.
Zenobia Hammonds was an artist from Hampton, VA. Student Artist is a sketch of a male student working at a tabletop easel. The artist has his head resting on his hand as he creates his own art.
A nine-page article reviewing the state of Black businesses in over 15 states. More than 15 businessowners and industries are mentioned, along with information on business organizations and towns founded by African Americans. Undated, but latest date referenced is April 1914.
Eva Booker was an artist from Atlanta, GA. The Road we Trod depicts Black American experiences with white supremacy during the Civil Rights Movement. The peace critiques the KKK, lynching, lunch counter discrimination, education inequality, job orientation, religious hypocrisy and Black people's long march toward freedom in spite of.
Green's drawing depicts a central female figure, deep in thought, surrounded by faint, whispering figures. The scene is reminiscent of a queen's court, with the monarch encircled by attendants and advisors. Green taught painting and printmaking courses at Texas Southern until his retirement in 2024.
This is a brochure for Obey’s senior art exhibition. The culmination of the Texas Southern art curriculum is a senior exhibition where students showcase artwork created over the course of their undergraduate studies. The brochure features a photo of Obey, a brief biography, a catalog of the artwork featured in the exhibition, a photo of her terracotta sculpture, a photo of one of her drawings, and a photo of one of her paintings. Dr. Biggers remembered Obey as one of his favorite students.
Mr. Wells had roots in the Clinton community, going back to his parents' ancestry in slavery. He discusses his time in the military during World War I, his education at Jackson State, and Black land ownership in Clinton, especially the amount of Black people who lost or gave up land during The Great Migration.
