Black Boston College Walking Tour

Curated by Rhonda Frederick

To recognize and celebrate this achievement, AADS has built this virtual walking tour that marks black presence
and achievement at BC, as well as the university’s participation in Boston’s black communities.
This interactive tour allows online and mobile users to discover and explore the complex history of black experience on campus.

Devlin Hall

September 1933 – Casper Augustus Ferguson became Boston College’s first African-American graduate on a hot, overcast afternoon on Alumni Field in June 1937. […] Ferguson commuted to Chestnut Hill by streetcar in the morning, and after the afternoon’s…

Gasson Hall

19 March 1970: Students Occupy Gasson At 6:30am on 19 March 1970, black students occupy Gasson Hall in an effort to dramatize the problems of black students at Boston College. Their main concern was the possible dropping of financial aid of [some…

Lyons Hall

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…

The Dust Bowl

19 October 2006 - Students and administrators attend rallies held in the Quad (space between Lyons, Gasson, Devlin, and CSOM) and community meetings to address a lack of protocol for hate crimes. Fliers that promoted white supremacy were found in…

BC Bookstore – McElroy Hall

September 20 1971 - A white security guard, who previously “permitted cars onto the upper campus to unload students’ possessions, refused entry to a car driven by [black students attempting to deliver food for a Black Talent Program picnic].”…

Roncalli Hall

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…

Thea Bowman Center

23 October 1989 - AHANA House is renamed to Thea Bowman Center. During the dedication ceremony, Bowman calls on AHANA students to teach the BC community to include AHANA in the first stage of plans, not just the final stage, and challenges the white…

Fenwick Hall

October 1970 - Black students of Fenwick Hall say that a dorm solely for black students is necessary “to help make this adaption to white society easier,” to have "a haven from ignorant stares and rude behavior,” according to the article. Frank…

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,…

Campion Hall - Lynch School of Education

2005 - FACES is founded for the purpose of providing students with a better environment to discuss race and racism on campus. (Meaghan Callahan, "FACES discuss race on campus," The Heights/ Logo by FACESCouncil)

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…

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)

Conte Forum

20 March 1989: Jesse Jackson Announcment Jesse Jackson will speak in Conte Forum on April 26 at 2:00pm, announced UGBC last week. UGBC received the written letter of confirmation from the National Rainbow Coalition last Friday, said UGBC…

Roberts Center (1958-1988)

7 April 1967 – BC students may yet become conditioned to having concerts cancelled after being assured that all the contracts had been duly signed. This familiar sequence was reenacted last week when the much publicized James Brown concert fell…

Alumni Field and The Heights Room

September 1933– Casper Augustus Ferguson, BC ’37, becomes the University’s first black student. “The 1937Sub Turriyearbook suggests Ferguson had at least one friend among the 281 graduates. In a three-sentence biography beneath his portrait, David…

Walsh Hall

4 November 1996 - AHANA council and UGBC co-sponsored a town hall meeting with representatives from BC and BCPD. “Anger flowed and tempers flared last Wednesday night in Walsh's eighth floor lounge as the topics of an emergency town meeting,…

Corcoran Commons

12 April 2012 – For all of the participants in last Tuesday’s rally to raise awareness for Martin’s case, justice was the end goal. United Front, a coalition of various Boston College clubs and organizations that represent the African American…

St. Ignatius Church

10 June 2020 – Facing outward toward Commonwealth Avenue, a crowd of about 100 protesters, including Boston College students and Jesuits, covered the lawn of St. Ignatius Church on Sunday afternoon. At the demonstration, organized by students from…

Hardy and Vouté Halls

27 February 1995 - Flyers for a black professor’s lecture and a wall are defaced with racial slurs in Hardy and Vouté Hall. In a similar incident, an article written by a black graduate about her experiences at BC is covered with racial slurs and…

Upper Campus, Main Gate

20 September 1971 – A white security guard, who previously “permitted cars onto the upper campus to unload students’ possessions refused entry to a car driven by [black students attempting to deliver food for a Black Talent Program picnic].”…

Burns Library - The Robert Morris Collection

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…

Botolph House

February 21, 1995 -Chris Stephen, a candidate for UGBC president, is challenged at a debate over his slogan, “Bringing UGBC Back to You.” “No matter how you justify the slogan, it insinuates that they are bringing UGBC back to you … and that it was…

Bapst Library

April 9, 1968 – One day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., BC holds a memorial service on Bapst Lawn and cancels classes to encourage students to attend a demonstration from Boston Common to Post Office Square. This event gathers…

St. Mary's Hall

11 December 2014 - Over 60 faculty and students staged a “die-in” in St. Mary’s Hall to protest police brutality, the inadequate response by the administration, and University policy on free speech. Barbara Jones, vice president for Student…

Law School

19 March 1965 - James Farmer, National Director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), spoke at BC’s Law School Forum about the struggle for equality. He stated that it could be achieved through two goals: to “tear down the walls of racism” and…

Trinity Chapel (Newton Campus)

11 April 2008 – For more than 25 years, Hubert Walters has directed Boston College’s Voices of Imani gospel choir (imani means “faith,” in Swahili) and served as a lecturer in music and African and African diaspora studies. On April 11, before a…

Off Campus Locations

15 November 1963 – A Christian meeting, unique in Boston's history, took place last Friday, November 8, on Boston's Beacon Hill. Almost 300 white priests, ministers, and students march in silence in front of Boston City Hall, the School Committee…