Education
The Delaware school for Colored Students, was established May 15, 1891, by the Delaware General Assembly under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1890 by which land-grant colleges for blacks came into existence in states maintaining separate educational facilities. This Historical Black College or University(HBCU) was founded on the Loockerman Plantation.
What is THEE Delaware State University.
This Montgomery, Alabama based lawyer, social justice activist, founder/executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a law professor at New York University School of Law was born in Milton, DE. He challenged bias against the poor and minorities in the criminal justice system, especially children. He was depicted in the legal drama Just Mercy which is based on his memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, which tells the story of Walter McMillian.
Who is Bryan Stevenson
A free black man from Willow Grove, who helped escaping slaves as a conductor on the Delaware route of the Underground Railroad in the 1830s and 1840s. Caught assisting in the escape of a slave in 1847, he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to be sold into slavery.
Who is Samuel Burris?
This beach that was friendly to people of color in Delaware was known as the Johnny Walker beach. The beaches were rare places of refuge for African Americans to escape the pressure of segregation.
What is Lewes Beach?
This distinguished man of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity Inc. studied education at Morgan State College (now Morgan University). He earned his master’s degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in educational administration from Penn State University. He took a position as principal at the Redding School in 1941, until the independent schools in Middletown, Odessa and Townsend became the Appoquinimink School District in 1960s, at which time he became the assistant superintendent. He also worked as an occupational therapist at the Delaware State Hospital from 1948 to 1949. He was the first minority professional to serve in this capacity.
Alfred G. Waters
This “Finer Woman” of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. was the First African American to be sworn in as a Supreme Court Judge for the state of Delaware on January 3, 2020.
Who is Tamika Montgomery-Reeves
The first African documented in this area circa 1639 when it was known as New Sweden. As a slave, he was part of the labor force to develop Fort Christina. He was later freed and then was employed by New Sweden Gov. Johan Printz for 10 years.
Who is Anthony Swart? aka:“Black Anthony”
Harmon Park later renamed, was a place of refuge for people of color in the early 1900s. It was where the colored 'in' crowd would go for good music (such as Fats Domino, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles) and good food. It was also one of the places mentioned in the famous "Green Book" where people of color could stay as they traveled.
What is Rosedale Beach (Millsboro, DE)?
In 1942 these two Delaware High Schools made history when they played the first basketball game between a white and black school.
Who are Wilmington Friends School and Howard High School
The first African-American to practice law in Delaware. His legal victory in the 1950 Parker vs. University of Delaware was the first case in the country in which a court forced an institution of higher education to enroll blacks. Hint: He has a school named after him in the best school district in the State of Delaware.
Who is Louis L. Redding
A minister, educator, writer, and one of America's most active and influential Black leaders. In 1794, he founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Black denomination in the United States. He opened his first AME church in 1794 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Who is Richard Allen?
A member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and the husband of the many of first Jane Mitchell. He was best known as the 30-year president of the state NAACP (1961-1991) and he established a reputation as ferocious fighter for civil rights in the First State, which included the areas of housing, public accommodations, education and voting rights.
Who is Littleton Mitchell?
An educator and civil rights activist who made Delaware history in 1968 as the first African-American principal of a non-segregated educational institution, Wilmington's P.S. du Pont High School.
Joseph E. Johnson
The Philly born, Delaware-raised Wilmington native first made history as the state’s first female African-American Secretary of Labor and the first African-American Deputy Secretary of Health and Social Services and State Personnel Director. She made history in 2020 when she was sworn in as the Delaware state representative for the U.S. Congress in January the first woman and African-American to represent the state.
Who is Lisa Blunt Rochester
The first black church in Delaware was established in Wilmington in 1805 when the black members of the Asbury Methodist Church withdrew and erected their own building with the aid of white contributors.
What is Ezion Methodist Episcopal Church?
This woman had many first. She was the first African-American to work as a registered nurse in a Delaware hospital, the first black director of nursing in the state, and the first African-American to serve as a member of the Delaware State Board of Nursing.
Who is Jane Mitchell?
The earliest black education leader in Delaware. She served as the principal of Howard High School in Wilmington for 44 years. From 1891 to the early 1920s, Howard H.S. was the only high school that blacks could attend in the state. She established a teacher education program there and founded a Girls Industrial School
Who is Edwina Kruse
He became the first African-American to become a state senator for the state of Delaware.
Who is Herman M. Holloway Sr?
A renowned author of poetry and short stories, who was married to the famed poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar. However, after that marriage ended violently, she moved to Wilmington in 1902 and became the head of Howard High’s English Department. She taught summer sessions at the State College for Colored Students (now Delaware State University), and was an activist in the suffrage and anti-lynching movements. She was also considered part of the Harlem Renaissance
Who is Alice Dunbar Nelson
This LEGENDary reggae artist lived on 24th and Tatnall in Wilmington, DE. He worked at the Chrysler plant.
Who is Bob Marley?