Black BC: A History of the Black Experience at Boston College
A project by Black BC: A History of the Black Experience at Boston CollegeBlack BC Walking Tour is an interactive tour that allows online and mobile users to discover and explore black BC’s complex history on campus, in Boston, and in the nation. It mines anecdotal and informal resources as well as BC archives to commemorate the presence and contributions of black BC, and to document how this community participates in Boston’s black communities. The site is also a resource for BC students, faculty, staff, alums, and scholars who conduct research on race.
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Random Stories
Burns Library - The Robert Morris Collection – "From humble origins to the country's second African American lawyer"
Robert Morris rose from humble origins in Salem, Massachusetts to become a civil rights leader in Boston and the country’s second African American lawyer. He advocated for integrated schools, militias, and public spaces, and supported equal rights…
BC Football Field –
1937: Lou Montgomery (BC ’41) became BC’s first black athlete as a running back for the football team” (Allie Weiskopf, "Ahead of their time," The Heights)
Lyons Hall – "A History of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program"
6 May 1969 – After the Black Forum outlined its demands, andeightweeks of meetings of the University Committee of Black Students and Studies, the University announces that a Black Studies program at BC will commence the following semester [fall…
Maloney Hall –
25 November 2014 - Boston College students marched across campus to gather in front of BCPD [Maloney Hall] in protest of the grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson officer Darren Wilson. (Julie Orenstein, "BC Students Protest Ferguson Ruling On…
Roncalli Hall – October 2017
16 October 2017 - Two students found their “Black Lives Matters” signs vandalized in Roncalli. The same weekend, a screenshot of a Snapchat comparing Black slaves to a burnt sandwich circulated through the student body. Students gathered in O'Neill…
McGuinn Hall –
September 1969 - The Internal Racism Project, directed by Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Jane Moosbruker, announced plans to work with the Black Forum and the S.D.S. and other campus groups to "confront racism." Using movies and discussion,…