Honoring Black history at MSU

Celebrated throughout February, Black History Month honors the achievements of Black Americans and recognizes their central role in U.S. history. How and when Black History Month originated is a lesson with ties to Michigan.

Also known as African American History Month, the event dates back to February 1926 when Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans designated the second week of February (to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass) as "Negro History Week."

Fifty years later, former U.S. President and Michigan congressman Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month as a month-long opportunity to formally honor the accomplishments of Black Americans “in every area of endeavor throughout history.”

Since then, American presidents have designated February as Black History Month and have endorsed a specific theme each year. The theme for 2021 is Black family: representation, identity and diversity. Michigan State University is committed to exploring the rich history of Black America and highlighting the successes that span the African diaspora.

Learn about the contributions of Black Americans who broke down barriers that led to greater integration and diversity at MSU and left their mark on history.

Photo of Ruth Nicole Brown

The Department of African American and African Studies at MSU initially was founded as a doctoral granting program in 2002. An undergraduate minor was created in 2014 to extend the Black studies experience to an undergraduate population. On July 1, 2019, it became a department, and exactly one year after its inception, Professor Ruth Nicole Brown was appointed as inaugural chairperson. Image credit: Department of African American and African Studies.

The Black Student Alliance was established in September 1967 amid student protests surrounding racism on Michigan State’s campus. Robert L. Green, a faculty member who would later become the director of the Center for Urban Affairs at MSU and a college dean, helped students organize. The group met in Green’s basement to organize and plan as the central advocacy group for Black students. To this day, the BSA serves as the voice of Black students on campus.

The Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association, or BFSAA, was formed during the late 1960s during the height of campus activism. The association’s purpose is both to serve as a strong voice and advocate for justice on campus and in support of the recruitment and success of Black faculty, students, staff and administrators.

Blanche Martin, class of 1959, took the oath of office as the first African American member of the MSU Board of Trustees on Jan. 6, 1969. Martin was named Academic All-American (1957-1958) and was awarded the Ross Trophy for outstanding academic and athletic achievements as a member of the Spartan football team. He later earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Detroit and continues to practice dentistry more than 40 years later. (Right image: 1969 Board of Trustees. Martin is second from the left in the bottom row.)

Ta-Nehisi Coates (left), an American writer and recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s “Genius Grant,” spoke at Wharton Center as part of the World View Lecture Series in 2017.

Claudia Rankine (center), New York Times bestselling poet, professor and recipient of numerous literary awards, was a guest speaker for the MSU Signature Lecture series. Her collaborative exhibition series “Situations,” with filmmaker John Lucas, was featured at the Broad Art Museum from February to December 2020.

Cornel West (right), distinguished speaker and educator on the history and culture of Black people in America, is scheduled to speak Feb. 25, 2021 as part of the Slavery to Freedom lecture series.

Pressured by Professor Robert Green (left, pictured standing) and the Black Student Alliance, President John A. Hannah created the Committee of Sixteen, comprising 10 high-level faculty members and six university administrators, to improve race relations on campus.

The group’s goal was to develop a civil rights plan for the university, which included increasing the number of Black students enrolled; hiring more people of color in faculty, staff and administrative positions; establishing the Center for Race and Urban Affairs, now the Center for Community and Economic Development, to work in the areas of curriculum, community development, research and the design and content of experimental programs; and for the university to commit to culture change and become fully integrated and a socially responsive institution. Of the committee’s plan, President Hannah called it “one of the most significant things to ever happen to the university.”

Faculty and academics

David W. Dickson (left) was appointed to the English department as the first African American faculty member in 1948. Dickson later became president of Montclair University in New Jersey.

In 1957, William Harrison Pipes (right) was the first African American faculty member to be granted full professorship. He earned a doctorate in speech and was the first African American in the country to do so.

First graduates

Nearly 40 years after the 13th Amendment passed, William O. Thompson (left), class of 1904, was the first known Black graduate from Michigan State, known then as Michigan Agricultural College, or M.A.C.

Myrtle Craig Mowbray (right) was the first female Black graduate of MSU, formerly M.A.C., in 1907. She received her diploma from President Theodore Roosevelt, who was the honored guest during the college’s Centennial Jubilee Celebration.

MSU establishes its legacy as a leader in integrating college football. Duffy Daugherty (left), MSU head football coach from 1954 to 1972, traveled the South recruiting student-athletes who were denied an opportunity to play in their home states. By 1966, the Spartan roster included 20 Black players — an unprecedented number at a time when many major college football programs remained segregated. The 1966 MSU football team won a national championship. Read and watch

Integration and inclusion

From 1957 to 1969, MSU President John A. Hannah led the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. (Image: Hannah, center, at a meeting of the Civil Rights Commission.)

Ernest Green, a member of the Little Rock Nine, was awarded a full scholarship (by an anonymous donor who was later known to be President Hannah) to attend MSU in 1958. In 2018, Ernest Green returned to campus as homecoming grand marshal.

Hometown hero Earvin “Magic” Johnson, class of 1979, led the men’s basketball team to its first NCAA championship in 1979. As an integral member of the team, Johnson earned numerous awards as a point guard, including two-time All-American, Big Ten MVP and MVP of the 1979 NCAA Tournament. He was inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.

Professionally, Johnson is known for five NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 for his individual contributions and again in 2010 as a member of the Dream Team. Since his retirement, Johnson has become an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention. Image credit: MSU Archives and Derrick L. Turner.

Most of Malcolm X’s formative years growing up were spent in Lansing and the surrounding area. In addition to attending school, living, working (including at Coral Gables — a popular spot for MSU students to watch live music and socialize) and marrying his wife at the Lansing courthouse, his years in Michigan were marked by traumatic events. In 1963, at the request of MSU students, Malcolm X spoke on campus. In 2017, his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz gave a speech at Erickson Kiva — the same place her father spoke. Image credit: Tullio Saba/Flickr Creative Commons and WKAR.

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. visited campus on Feb. 11, 1965. He spoke to more than 4,000 students and community residents who attended a standing-room-only lecture in the Auditorium, with the overflow crowd packed into the Fairchild Theatre where they could hear King’s speech. His visit marked the kickoff of a fundraising drive for the All-University Student Government-sponsored Student Education Program, or STEP. The STEP program involved sending student and faculty volunteers during the summer of 1965 to assist with outreach efforts at Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi.

The Department of African American and African Studies at MSU initially was founded as a doctoral granting program in 2002. An undergraduate minor was created in 2014 to extend the Black studies experience to an undergraduate population. On July 1, 2019, it became a department, and exactly one year after its inception, Professor Ruth Nicole Brown was appointed as inaugural chairperson. Image credit: Department of African American and African Studies.

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All images, unless otherwise specified, are property of Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections.