Data Science and Black Studies at HBCUs
Tuskegee, Jackson State and Florida A&M Universities
In the early 1900s, HBCU researchers collected data about Black life post-slavery. Their research on religion, health, economics, and lynching revealed the nature of Black life in America.
During the 1960s, many HBCU students began demanding Black Studies programs. This emerging academic field combined African American history, political science, and cultural studies—all linked to the political and social movements of the day. HBCU data scientists helped establish Black Studies as a viable academic field.
Tuskegee University Archives
Students working in Tuskegee University Archives
Tuskegee University Archives document Black history—collecting legal and financial papers, historical photographs, and scholarship about education, science, and aviation. Audio and video files capture the oral and visual power of Civil Rights activism. Written archives—including lynching records—tell a story of reckoning and remembrance.
Monroe and Florence Work
Monroe and Florence Work were sociologists who studied African American life. Learn how their research revealed truths about the Black experience.
The Meek-Eaton Black Archives Research Center and Museum
Carnegie Library at FAMU
In 1971, Florida state representative Joe Lang Kershaw persuaded its legislature to pass a bill to preserve regional African American history. By 1976, FAMU history professor Dr. James N. Eaton had founded the Meek-Eaton Black Archives Research Center and Museum. Today, the Center holds over 500,000 archival records and artifacts, including stories of African American dance, music, and drama. One of the largest African American archives in the United States, the Meek-Eaton Center tells the story of Black history and culture in Florida and the greater Southeast.
The Quarterly Journal at Florida A&M
The Quarterly Journal provided FAMU scholars with a place to publish research on Florida’s Black population. Like other HBCU publications, the journal aimed to foster racial progress by sharing information about African American life. Today, students and scholars can research digitized volumes of The Quarterly Journal from the 1930s and 1940s.
Featured Story
W. E. B. Du Bois at Atlanta University
An acclaimed sociologist, W. E. B. Du Bois documented African American life after slavery. As a professor at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University), Du Bois produced quantitative data detailing the challenges newly emancipated people faced. He also used photography and graphic design to provide visualizations of Black progress, effort, and concerns.
At the 1900 Paris Exposition, Du Bois showed portraits of Black Georgians taken by anonymous photographers.
The Fight for Black Studies at HBCUs
Inspired by Black liberation movements, HBCU students in the 1960s demanded classes in African American history, identity, and culture. These students wanted to examine systems of power and oppression, study community issues, and explore social justice-oriented solutions. Given Black Studies’ connection to the Black Power Movement, many college and university presidents of the time rejected the notion of Black Studies, calling it too “militant.”
Some professors, like Nathan Hare and Margaret Walker, responded to student demands by developing Black Studies courses, programs, and departments at HBCUs.
Black Studies Sign
In 1975, students, scholars, and academic faculty established the National Council for Black Studies. NCBS provides opportunities for Black Studies research, networking, advocacy, curriculum development, and community engagement. The NCBS is still active today.
Affirming Black Studies at Jackson State University
Margaret Walker and Black Studies posters
Brochure from National Evaluative Conference on Black Studies, 1971
Margaret Walker pioneered the development of Black Studies at Jackson State University (JSU) by establishing the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People in 1968. Throughout the 1970s, Jackson State hosted workshops and conferences evaluating Black Studies programs and assessing academic methodologies and best practices.
When Walker retired in 1979, Jackston State renamed Walker’s institute as the Margaret Walker Center Archives and Museum. Today, the center promotes academic programming and course offerings related to Black Studies.
The Black Studies Programs are a creative response to violence and racism. At Jackson State College, we envision these Black Studies Programs as avenues to understanding and thus to racial good will and cultural appreciation.
Margaret Walker, Jackson State University Professor, 1970