“You are not and yet you are: your thoughts, your deeds, above all your dreams still live.”
—W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois was a professor at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) and a writer who believed education could change the world. He was one of the first Black men to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He helped start the NAACP and worked his whole life to make sure Black Americans had equal rights and opportunities. He believed our dreams and actions can live on long after we’re gone.
North Carolina HBCUs
The History in Historically Black Colleges & Universities
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, were created primarily after the Civil War to educate newly freed African Americans who were not allowed to attend most colleges at the time. The first HBCU was Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1837, even before slavery ended. After 1865, many more HBCUs were established with support from Black churches, white religious organizations, and the U.S. government’s Freedmen’s Bureau to provide education in teaching, ministry, medicine, and the trades.
Most HBCUs were founded in the Southern United States, where slavery had been most widespread. Today, the states with the largest number of HBCUs include Alabama (14), North Carolina (10), Georgia (10), and Texas (9), followed closely by South Carolina and Mississippi. This concentration reflects the urgent need for educational institutions in those regions after emancipation.
More than 100 HBCUs were founded between 1865 and the early 1900s. The most recent HBCU established is Bennett College in North Carolina, which gained HBCU status in 1926 (though its roots date back earlier to 1873). Today, there are over 100 HBCUs across the United States, continuing a legacy of education, leadership, and opportunity that began nearly 200 years ago. Full list available here.
“My HBCU experience came with a lifelong community I cherish. The dreams we dared to dream while there, are now part of our reality- made possible by what we gained at our HBCU. For that, I am eternally grateful and will remain continuously invested in their existence.”
Shantell Thomas