In this page from the 1978 Rattler Yearbook, Acel Moore, a Black Pulitzer Prize Winner and reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, visited Florida A&M’s Journalism department and news-reporting class to give a seminar and lecture on the increased need for Black journalists in print media.
As a part of a Woman’s History Month event in the early 1990s, Angela Davis lectured at Florida A&M’s campus. In rare photographs of Davis in dreadlocks, the international civil rights activist and writer spoke for the event sponsored by the Tallahassee National Organization of Women and the FAMU Center for Equity and Cultural Diversity.
Black Entertainment Television (BET) was the first cable network dedicated to African Americans. In February 1994, BET and the Young Sisters and Brothers Magazine hosted their first annual Campus Tour at Florida A&M University, with events on professional media opportunities and a special taping of “Rap City Live,” where OutKast performed.
This two-page spread comes from the 1981 Rattler Yearbook and features images from Black History Month events at both Florida A&M University and Florida State University. Prominent figures like Dr. Larry Rivers, Joseph “Joe” Lang Kershaw, and Dick Gregory were highlighted for significant events or visited the campuses’ to speak to students.
These images are from the spring of 1979 when Kwame Ture, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael, visited Florida A&M University to speak to students. Ture was a field organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and coined the “Black Power” slogan, making him a key figure during the Civil Rights Movement.
The Commodores were a popular band that peaked during the late 1970s and early 1980s due to co-lead singer Lionel Richie, who later became a solo artist. The group visited the illustrious Florida A&M University for a performance in 1975.
In 1975, Earth, Wind, and Fire, a funk and soul band headed by lead singer Maurice White and best known for their hit song “September,” visited Florida A&M University. According to the caption in the yearbook in which these images were featured, the group drew “the largest crowd to ever crowd Gaither Gym.”
Florynce “Flo” Kennedy was a radical feminist lawyer who represented H. Rap Brown and the Black Panthers and established the Feminist Party, which nominated Congresswoman Shirley Chrisholm for president in 1972. Kennedy visited Florida A&M University in the fall of 1978 and spoke to its students.
This two-page spread featured in the 2000 Rattler Yearbook showcases various events on Florida A&M’s campus from 1995 to 1998. Titled “A Glimpse Into History,” the spread honors the past by showing political campaigning by Hilary Clinton during the 1996 election, student organizations, and other aspects of student life.
This two-page spread in the 1979 Florida A&M Rattler Yearbook features members from the chapters of FAMU’s Divine Nine fraternerities and sororities. In their organization’s t-shirts and jeans, these Greeks stand on the steps of Coleman Library.
This two-page spread was featured in the 1994 Rattler yearbook, showcasing student life at the time. “The Set” was a location on campus in front of the Student Union where students regularly hung around during downtime. These images also highlight the clothing trends of the early ‘90s with baggy jeans, plaid and patterns, and letterman jackets.
This spread, obtained from the 1979 Rattler Yearbook, shows the Funkadelics visiting Florida A&M University. George Clinton, the frontman of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, is seen performing on stage. As of 2024, Clinton has been a Tallahassee resident for over thirty years.
Homecoming is an event most historically Black institutions participate in as an annual celebration of their alums, rich history, and current student bodies. One of the main events besides the football game is the Homecoming concert. For Florida A&M’s in 1993, the Student Government Association got rapper Ice Cube and R&B group Intro to attend.
Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson was a civil rights leader who began activism in the 1960s. In the 1980s, he launched two presidential campaigns, ultimately losing the Democratic nomination, but not by expected large margins. In 1981, Jackson visited Florida A&M University to encourage students to register to vote.
This black-and-white full-page spread featured in the 1975 Rattler Yearbook gives viewers a rare glimpse into the inner lives of Florida A&M University students. In dorm life, regular aspects of Black culture appear like braiding hair with roommates or playing chess. The next page also shows the inclusivity brought by the accessible cafeteria.
Margaret Walker was a poet best known for her role in the Chicago Black Renaissance, a Black literary movement. Her first poetry collection, For My People, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, making her the first Black woman to do so. 1981, she visited the Carnegia Center, a.k.a Carnegie Library, at the Meek-Eaton Black Archives.
Nikki Giovanni, a highly awarded African American poet, visited the campus of Florida A&M University in 1975. In these images, Giovanni is seen being gifted a corsage by students, walking around campus, and speaking on a stage.
These images were featured in the 1978 Rattler Yearbook. It shows the transition of Florida A&M president Dr. Benjamin L. Perry to new president Dr. Walter L. Smith. Perry is seen singing the FAMU Alma Mater while Smith strolls around campus with faculty member Dr. Finley.
In this photograph obtained from the Rattler 1975, the official Florida A&M University yearbook, the star is “Rudy the Rattler.” Rudy the Rattler was FAMU’s official mascot, a taxidermy rattlesnake sculpture, possibly modeled after a real-life one.
In the summer of 1979, Director of the Meek-Eaton Black Archives Research Center and Museum, James Eaton, discovered Spike Lee’s grandfather was a graduate of Florida A&M and served as the second bandmaster in the early 1920s. After Eaton shared this with him, Lee returned to FAMU to give an address to students.
