Morehouse College (Atlanta, Georgia) – Morehouse has educated some of the US’s most well-known Black leaders, artists, activists and educators, including actor Samuel L Jackson, US Senator Raphael Warnock and civil rights icon Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The college is home to the eponymous Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, with its historic 6,000-pipe Wendell P Whalum organ and memorial statue. Guests are welcome to take a self-guided tour of the chapel, attend an event or to join the congregation for mass. Morehouse also hosts an annual Human Rights Film Festival, which showcases the work of independent filmmakers seeking to raise awareness about social justice issues.
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, Alabama) – Founded by renowned African American author and educator Booker T Washington in 1881 to train formerly enslaved people in industrial trades, Tuskegee is one of the US’s most storied HBCUs and a National Historic Site. The campus also has several important museums that are open to the public, including the George Washington Carver Museum, which houses many of the renowned Black scientist and inventor’s artefacts and personal belongings, as well as the Tuskegee University Campus Cemetery, which serves as the final resting place for both Washington and Carver.
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Howard University (Washington DC) – One of the most anticipated cultural events of the year at HBCUs is the Homecoming celebration, when alumni return to campus, and Howard University’s event is one of the best places to experience it. The celebration lasts for days and includes parades, dances, community gatherings and “step shows” – a high-energy, synchronised form of dance that was popularised at HBCUs. It’s a community-wide event that brings together, visitors, students and alumni alike.
Spelman College (Atlanta, Georgia) – One of only two women-only HBCUs, Spelman has been educating Black women in the US since 1881. Located in Atlanta, which is considered one of the major hubs for modern black culture in the US, Spelman is the sister school to nearby Morehouse (which only admits men). The college’s historic campus deserves a visit as much for its leafy campus as its fascinating combination of historic and modernist architecture. Guests should also stop at the college’s Museum of Fine Art, which has one of the largest collections of art by Black women in the country.
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