The History of African Americans at Hopkins

A unique course entitled The African Americans @ JHU seeks to expand upon W.E.B. DuBois’ profundity that Black people gave America distinct gifts that no one else offered.

The project focuses on race in America viewed through the lens of the history of the Johns Hopkins Institutions (JHU). By examining the contributions of African Americans to JHU, the project will build a more complete history of the university and allow student researchers to reflect upon the evolving history of race in the United States. Students will explore the role that race has played in achievement and higher education. From this inquiry, they will distill a larger sense of the importance of African-American culture and experience over the 19th and 20th centuries.

Last fall the course was led by Dr. Franklin Knight.  Aided by librarians and technology specialists in the Libraries’ Center for Educational Resources, students used primary source materials in the Eisenhower Library’s Special Collections department and conducted interviews with faculty members Levi Watkins at the School of Medicine, and Siba Grovogui and Katrina Bell McDonald at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.  The student work that has been added to the project Web site can be viewed at http://afam.nts.jhu.edu/.