African American History
& Culture House University of Missouri - Kansas City

Fast Fact: Supports incoming freshmen and encourages academic achievement for all.

Headquarters for African American Student Union

This inviting home, at 5245 Rockhill Road, is UMKC’s center for African American intellectual life and leisure. Students welcome those seeking to learn more about people of African descent. Through programs, films, displays and activities, the AAHCH offers the UMKC community much food for thought.

The Mission of the African American History and Culture House

The mission of the African American History and Culture House (AAHCH) is to enhance and enrich the general understanding of and participation in African American intellectual culture. The AAHCH’s primary population is the African American student body. All AAHCH activities and programs however, can serve to fulfill the intellectual needs of anyone seeking to know more about the cultural heritage and contributions of people of African descent.

The AAHCH’s mission is an expression of the University of Missouri- Kansas City goal of promoting and celebrating cultural diversity on campus. The presence of intellectual cultural activities both in and out of the classroom is consistent with and central to the University’s broader mission. The AAHCH mission also facilitates the University’s overall efforts to attract, recruit and retain African American students by providing a supportive environment for the fostering of personal and intellectual growth. The AAHCH as a support system for African American students, offers both intellectual and leisure time activities.

The African American History and Culture House is a place for study and the preparation of academic work during normal center hours. A library containing a collection of books, newspapers, college catalogues, journals and video tapes are important sources which aid in African American student retention. The availability of computers for use in completing academic assignments help promote student academic success.

An essential impetus for intellectual activity (seminars/workshops) revolves around an AAHCH cooperative venture with the University’s College of Arts and Sciences African American faculty members in the disciplines of Black Studies, African American History, and Linguistics.

The center Assistant Director is primarily responsible for scheduling faculty and guest lecturers with both the AAHCH and the College of Arts and Sciences. Seminars and presentations on a variety of stimulating topics are implemented on a bi-weekly basis. Programmatic efforts provide a supportive environment which in turn assists students in developing the necessary coping skills and the intellectual fortitude needed for improved academic performance in the classroom.

In an effort to meet its mission, the AAHCH has developed linkages with academic and nonacademic units of the University, thus performing an integrative role in the intellectual life of the University. In addition, the AAHCH Director and Asst. Director plans and implements university-wide activities and events in commemoration of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday and to celebrate African American History Month. An African American Culture week is implemented annually and designed to expose the University and Kansas City community to the intellectual and overall contributions of African Americans to American society and history.

Goals and Objectives of the UMKC African American History and Culture House

The purpose of the African American History and Culture House is to enhance, enrich and engender among students, faculty, staff and the broader community, a general understanding and appreciation of the contributions that African and African American people have made and are making to world civilization. The primary objectives of the AAHCH are:

1. To provide the University of Missouri-Kansas City community with cultural and intellectual activities and events that are unique to the African American experience

2. To provide an educational, social and cultural support system for African American undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff

3.To contribute to the overall diversity of the campus and community environments

4.To coordinate selected intellectual activities for AAHCH implementation with the College Of Arts and Sciences African American Studies Program representatives

5.To serve as an indirect support resource for the recruitment and retention of African American undergraduate students

The AAHCH will present selected programs that provide educational awareness and information that relate to the African American experience. The AAHCH also serves as a resource for student organizations and the university community. The AAHCH contributes to the University of Missouri-Kansas City mission by providing services and programs that enhance the academic, social and cultural environment.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Leo Morton will serve as interim UMKC chancellor starting August 1, 2008.  He is currently chairman of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Board of Trustees. 

Gary Forsee, president of the University of Missouri system announced the appointment Monday.  MOrton replaces Guy Bailey, named July 2 as president of Texas Tech University.

Morton is the former vice president and chief administrative officer for Aquila Inc.  Morton said he was honored by the appointment.  He pledged to invole faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends in “important discussions that will shape the future of UMKC.” 

Morton will not be a candidate for the permanent position. 

UMKC Provost Gail Hackett will continue to run the university on a day-to-day basis.

“Leo will continue to advance the vision and mission of UMKC, building upon the solid foundation that has already been laid,” Forsee said in the release.

Morton graduated from Tuskegee University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and received a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Morton has held leadership positions at AT&T Microelectronics, AT&T Bell Laboratories, General Motors Corporation, Rust Engineering Co. and Corning Incorporated, a glass company.

Leo Mortons biography is very lengthy in his successful appointments at large corporations.  UMKC has appointed a top person in Leo Morton as he serves as the Interim Chancellor for the University. 

Popularity: 10% [?]

Lincoln University has a main area called the cafe. And the stepping tradition has always been that the fraternities will stroll into the cafe. The crowd of students gather and circle around the fraternity steppers and watch the free show. The crowd will scream, the girls will squeal and the fellas will bark. The performances are intimate and full of energy.
Check out a few of the videos of the Lincoln University Cafe.

Beta Chapter Que’s Part One Steppin in the Lincoln University Cafe

Beta Chapter Que’s Part Three Steppin the Lincoln University Cafe

Alpha Phi Alpha Steppin in the Lincoln University Cafe, Jefferson City, Missouri

Popularity: 11% [?]

Lincoln University has a rich story.  At the close of the Civil War, soldiers and officers of the 62nd United States Colored Infantry, stationed at Fort McIntosh, Texas, but composed primarily of Missourians, took steps to establish an educational institution in Jefferson City, Missouri, which they named Lincoln Institute.

They were compelled to do this because many of them had never received education as slaves.  So when they got into the military, many had learned to write their names for the first time.  If you can imagine how slavery was a way to keep you dumb and uninformed.  And even in that environment, there were Black men and women who were conscious enough to know that they should escape their slave masters to join the military so that they could gain freedom.

Sadly, some of the conscious black men and women were killed in the Civil War.  They gave their lives so that others, the ones too afraid to see a better future, could be free.  But the ones who made it, knew that after the war, they should have a plan and they knew that education must be included into that plan.

 The following stipulations were set for the school:
1. The institution shall be designed for the special benefit of the freed African-Americans; 2. It shall be located in the state of Missouri; 3. Its fundamental idea shall be to combine study and labor. Members of the 62nd Colored Infantry contributed $5,000; this was supplemented by approximately $1,400, given by the 65th Colored Infantry.

They knew that they could not setup the school themselves.  Imagine being black and rolling back into Missouri triumphant.  The southern empathizers would be quick to kill you.  So they entrusted one white man who toured with them with the money and the quest to find land to build this school. 

This goes to show you that we have to work together to make a better way. 

On January 14, 1866, Lincoln Institute was formally established under an organization committee.

By June of the same year, it incorporated and the committee became a Board of Trustees. Richard Baxter Foster, a former first lieutenant in the 62nd Infantry, was named first principal of Lincoln Institute. On September 17, 1866, the school opened its doors to the first class in an old frame building in Jefferson City. In 1869, Lincoln Institute moved to the present campus, and in 1870 it began to receive aid from the state of Missouri for teacher training. College-level work was added to the curriculum in 1877, and passage of the Normal School Law permitted Lincoln graduates to teach for life in Missouri without further examination. Lincoln Institute formally became a state institution in 1879 with the deeding of the property to the state.

Under the second Morrill Act of 1890, Lincoln became a land grant institution, and the following year industrial and agricultural courses were added to the curriculum. In 1921, the Missouri Legislature passed a bill introduced by Walthall M. Moore, the first black American to serve in that body, which changed the name from Lincoln Institute to Lincoln University and created a Board of Curators to govern the University. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited the high school division in 1925, the teacher-training program in 1926, and the four-year college of arts and sciences in 1934.

Graduate instruction was begun in the summer session of 1940, with majors in education and history and minors in English, history, and sociology. A School of Journalism was established in February 1942. Twelve years later, the United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, and Lincoln University responded by opening its doors to all applicably meeting its entrance criteria.

Today, Lincoln University serves a diverse student clientèle, both residential and non-residential, engages in a variety of research projects, and offers numerous public service programs in addition to providing an array of academic programs.

Lincoln University is a historical school and monumental feat for the former slaves, Civil War heroes and men whose names, they learned to write for the first time, but names we will never know.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Mervyn Dymally a Lincoln University Success - Lincoln University, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Jefferson City, Missouri has many Black graduates who have gone on to be extremely sucessful.  Recently, Lincoln recognized one of its famous graduates by inducting him into the National Alyumni Association Hall of Fame.  His name is Mervyn Dymally.

Dymally Inducted Into Lincoln University (MO) National Alumni Association Hall Of Fame 
 
 Assemblymember Mervyn M. Dymally, Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus was inducted into the Lincoln University (MO) National Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame.  The event took place on Saturday, July 21, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.  After immigrating to the United States in 1946 from Trinidad, at the age of 19, Dymally attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City and majored in journalism.

“Tuition was $50 and I thought, I couldn’t beat that,” commented Dymally.  “Without that acceptance from Lincoln, I don’t know what my life would have been like.”

After a cold winter in Missouri, Dymally decided to head for warmer weather and transferred to California State University, Los Angeles and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education.  He has a Master’s degree in Government from the California State University, Sacramento and a Ph.D. in Human Behavior from the United States International University, San Diego.

A teacher before entering the political arena, Dymally’s career began with teaching handicapped children in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He was a lecturer at various universities, including posts at Central State University, Ohio and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles.

While teaching he joined the Young Democrats and served as State Treasurer. In 1960 he was actively involved in the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Later he was chosen Field Coordinator for the John F. Kennedy Campaign for President. Two years later he successfully ran for the State Assembly. In 1966, he became the first African American to serve in the State Senate and was soon elected as Chairman of the Senate Majority Caucus.

In 1974, he made history when he was elected the first of two African American Lieutenant Governors in the United States. Later, he was elected Congressman from South Los Angeles County, making him the first foreign-born Black to be elected as a Member of the US Congress. During this time he also served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa.

Dymally retired from Congress in 1992. During his retirement he traveled extensively including trips to Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean as a foreign affairs consultant. He currently serves as Honorary Consul to the Republic of Benin in West Africa and Chief Protocol Officer of the California Assembly.

In 2002, Dymally returned to where he began his political career in the State Assembly representing the 52nd district which includes: South Los Angeles, Watts, Compton, Paramount and North Long Beach.  He is Chair of both the Assembly Health Committee and the Legislative Black Caucus.

The Lincoln University (MO) National Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame was established to recognize alumni both living and deceased who have distinguished themselves by outstanding achievements in their chosen field of endeavor.  Individuals selected have distinguished themselves by their pioneering efforts, innovation and/or uniqueness.  They have been recognized in their local community, nationally and sometimes internationally for their work.

The Lincoln University Alumni Hall of Fame Room housed in Memorial Hall on the campus of Lincoln University is reserved for the distinct purpose of displaying the plaques honoring the inductees on the “Wall of Fame.” Artifacts and memorabilia belonging to honorees may also be exhibited in this room.

Popularity: 5% [?]

This PDF document of “Nommo,” the newsletter for the Association of Black Culture Centers has done a great job detailing the history of the Gaines-Oldham Black Culture Center, a photo of the original center and the current building, as well as, a welcome from Nate Stephens, BCC’s Director.

View the document here:  http://www.blackmissouri.com/pdf/association_of_black_culture_centers.pdf

Popularity: 68% [?]