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Black History Month at UMass Amherst
UMass Amherst honors and acknowledges Black history and heritage—on campus and beyond.
Black History Month is a vital reminder of the contributions, resilience, and excellence of Black communities, but its spirit deserves recognition year-round. Honoring Black history daily deepens our understanding of the past and inspires action for equity in the present. At UMass Amherst, we believe celebrating these stories consistently helps foster a more inclusive, informed, and just society.
Thursday, February 27, 2025, 4 p.m.
CHC Events Hall
For its annual Black Heritage Month Celebration, Commonwealth Honors College welcomes groundbreaking presenters who are working at the intersection of art praxis, racial justice, and the embodiment of change as pathways to liberation. Keynote speaker Daphne Lamothe, professor of Africana studies at Smith College, explores Black consciousness, identity, and cultural belonging in her talk "Power, Potency, Possibility, and the Black Imaginary."
Events
Explore university events taking place throughout the month of February.
Feb. 7, 2025–March 7, 2025
Augusta Savage Gallery
Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, 4–5 p.m.
Olver Design Building, Room 170
Multiple Locations
The Black Presence Project
With more than 40 interviews and profiles, the UMass Black Presence Project tells the remarkable story of the Black faculty, staff, alumni, and students who have contributed to UMass Amherst's international reputation for excellence. Conducted over several semesters, the rich oral history interviews were led by the late Professor John H. Bracey Jr., a founding member of the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, alongside Erika Slocumb, an Afro-American studies doctoral candidate, and students enrolled in Black Presence at UMass, Part I and Part II. Below are just a few of the many profiles available in the collection.
In 1978, James Baldwin received an honorary doctorate from the university. From 1983 through 1986, the pivotal American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist joined UMass Amherst as a professor and distinguished fellow in the Institute for the Advanced Study in the Humanities, working alongside many faculty in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies.
At the time of his death, W. E. B. Du Bois left behind an extensive collection of written works, photographs, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, videotapes, audiotapes, and miscellaneous materials. His wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois, dedicated decades of her life to organizing and preserving his papers, leading her to publish two studies on Du Bois and receive an honorary doctorate from UMass Amherst in 1973. She then joined UMass for two years to teach in the Afro-American studies department. Shirley Graham ultimately chose UMass Amherst to take ownership of preserving W. E. B. Du Bois's legacy.
Just 23 years old in the fall of 1948, Edwin Douglas Driver was hired by the sociology department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, becoming the first person of non-European descent to join the faculty and, along with Ruby Pernell of the University of Minnesota, one of the first two African Americans hired onto the faculty of a state flagship university in the 20th century.
Keep the Conversation Going
Find resources available throughout the year on campus and online.