Black History Month

Viola Taliaferro, JD’77, renowned judge and advocate for children, died June 12, 2023. She was married to football legend George Taliaferro.

One hundred years ago, a section of Tulsa, Okla., called Greenwood, or more commonly known as “Black Wall Street,” was destroyed by a hostile white mob armed with guns, knives,…

Milton “Milt” G. Campbell Sr., ’57, was the first African American to win Olympic gold in the decathlon. Campbell was a senior in high school when he won his first…

Indiana University was founded in 1820, but it would be more than 60 years before Harvey Young, the first African American student, stepped foot on the Bloomington campus. Young would…

The Eagleson name is familiar to many at Indiana University and in Monroe County, as the prominent African American family is riddled with “firsts” and other high-level achievements, dating back…

The 1895 Arbutus lists among the graduating seniors a math major named Marcellus Neal. With that announcement, history was made. Neal had officially become the first Black student to graduate…

In the fall of 1915, a young Black woman from Rushville, Ind., arrived at Indiana University to begin her freshman year. She carried with her all her worldly possessions, her…

Star of IU’s only unbeaten football team. First African American player drafted into the NFL. Champion of IU integration. Beginning with football but finishing far beyond, George Taliaferro, BS’51, found…

As the first African American basketball player to compete regularly in the Big Ten, Bill Garrett, BS’51, was a trailblazer for Indiana University. Some 70 years later, Garrett, who died…

This story was originally published in the Feb. 28, 2013, issue of the Indiana Daily Student, and won first place in the Hearst Journalism writing competition for personality profile. Note:…

This article originally appeared in the 1994 March/April issue of the IU Alumni Magazine. When Thomas Atkins was 5, he was diagnosed with polio. Doctors said he wouldn’t walk again.…

The election of Nov. 7, 1967, was a milestone in U.S. political history, as Gary, Ind., chose Richard G. Hatcher, BS’56, as mayor. He would serve as chief executive of…