ODU History

Alice Coachman was the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal. Growing up in the segregated South, she overcame discrimination and unequal access to inspire generations of other black athletes to reach for their athletic goals.

For more women's history visit womenshistory.org.

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was the first African American woman in Congress (1968) and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties (1972). Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbought and Unbossed—illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

For more women's history, visit womenshistory.org.

Carrie Chapman Catt was a leading figure in the women's suffrage movement, known for her instrumental role in securing the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting American women the right to vote. Catt founded the League of Women Voters in 1920 to support newly enfranchised women and promote civic engagement and was an advocate for international peace and women’s rights, co-founding the International Alliance of Women, which focused on advancing gender equality worldwide.

For more women's history, visit womenshistory.org.

The first woman in America to receive a medical degree, Elizabeth Blackwell championed the participation of women in the medical profession and ultimately opened her own medical college for women.

For more women's history, visit womenshistory.org.

A loyal patriot of the American Revolution, Penelope Barker organized the famous Edenton Tea Party, the first recorded women’s political demonstration in America. Barker rallied 50 women in Edenton, North Carolina to sign a resolution boycotting British tea. The move was made in response to the 1773 Tea Act, passed by Parliament, which gave the British East India Tea Company a monopoly in the colonies and was the last in a series of taxes and policies that colonists fiercely resented.

For more information about Penelope Barker and other influential women in history, visit womenshistory.org

Continuing our look at history's influential women, let's learn about Josephine Baker. World renowned performer, World War II spy, and activist are few of the titles used to describe Josephine Baker. One of the most successful African American performers in French history, Baker’s career illustrates the ways entertainers can use their platforms to change the world.

For more information about Josephine Baker and other influential women in history, visit womenshistory.org.

As Women's History Month continues, let's learn about some women who have been pioneers in their fields, such as Jane Addams. A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She later became internationally respected for the peace activism that ultimately won her a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, the first American woman to receive this honor.

For more information on Jane Addams and other American women pioneers, visit womenshistory.org

Attention History Students!!! Join us for Trivia Night!! We'll have trivia games, snacks, and prizes! Friday, February 28 in the ED Building, room 1105! See you there!

2025 marks the 100-year anniversary of the creation of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids by labor organizer and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph, which was the first Black union to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor. Martin Luther King, Jr incorporated issues outlined by Randolph’s March on Washington Movement such as economic justice into the Poor People’s Campaign, which he established in 1967. For King, it was a priority for Black people to be considered full citizens. For more information visit https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/august/brotherhood-of-sleeping-car-porters
Image: Pullman compartment cars through trains -- interior of dining cars on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton R.R.; LOC.

Since the mid-1970s, every American president, Democrat and Republican, has issued proclamations endorsing the Association’s annual theme. The 2025 Black History Month theme, "African Americans and Labor," celebrates the transformative impact of Black work across the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora. Whether it's the grueling labor of enslaved Africans, debates among Black educators on vocational training, or the fight for economic and social justice through organized labor - Black people's work has been central to much of Black history and culture. This year's theme aims to highlight and honor the profound ways that all types of work, both free and unfree, have intersected with the collective Black experience. For more information visit asalh.org

History students! Apply your history skills in the workplace by doing a PAID internship this Spring or Summer! Scan the QR code or visit bit.ly/MHIAopeninternships for more information about funded internship opportunities at non-profits!

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, the MacArthur Memorial will host a FREE screening of The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). Dr. Tim Orr, Associate Professor of History at Old Dominion University, will introduce the film and discuss the tension between "real" history and "reel" history. February 19, 2025 at 7:00 pm. For more information visit https://macarthurmemorial.org/

The 1960s saw a dramatic shift in how black history was studied and celebrated. Before the decade ended, Negro History Week was well on its way to becoming the month-long celebration we now know as Black History Month. This change actually began even before the death of Dr. Woodson, the founder of Negro History Week. As early as the 1940s, blacks in West Virginia, where Woodson often spoke, started celebrating February as Negro History Month. In Chicago, a cultural activist named Fredrick H. Hammaurabi, who had taken an African name in the 1930s, started his own Negro History Month celebrations at his House of Knowledge center in the mid-60s, fusing African consciousness with the study of black history. For more information visit asalh.org

Woodson's Negro History Week was a hit, but soon spiraled out of his control. By the 1930s, he was battling intellectual charlatans, black and white, trying to cash in on the public's newfound interest in black history. He warned teachers not to invite speakers less knowledgeable than the students. Meanwhile, publishers rushed to put out books, and "instant experts" emerged from "mushroom presses." As with anything popular in America, Negro History Week became commercialized and trivialized. Constant reformer Woodson had his hands full trying to keep the celebrations worthy of the people they honored. For more information visit asalh.org

Woodson was overwhelmed by the huge response to his call for Negro History Week. Schools and the public across the country embraced the celebration. The 1920s saw the rise of the "New Negro" - African Americans with growing racial pride and consciousness, fueled by urbanization and millions migrating from the rural South. A burgeoning black middle class eagerly consumed black literature and culture, while history clubs, teachers, and progressive whites all got behind the effort. Woodson's Association scrambled to meet demand, providing themes, study materials, plays, and more. High schools formed Negro History Clubs, and ASNLH branches sprang up nationwide. In 1937, Woodson launched the Negro History Bulletin to focus on the annual theme. As black populations grew, mayors proclaimed Negro History Week, sometimes linking it to National Brotherhood Week. For more information visit asalh.org