Whittemore Library: Heritage Months: African/Black American History Month

February is African/Black American History Month

Image source: Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH®)

"The 2025 Black History Month theme, African Americans and Labor, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Indeed, work is at the very center of much of Black history and culture. Be it the traditional agricultural labor of enslaved Africans that fed Low Country colonies, debates among Black educators on the importance of vocational training, self-help strategies and entrepreneurship in Black communities, or organized labor’s role in fighting both economic and social injustice, Black people’s work has been transformational throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora. The 2025 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor,” sets out to highlight and celebrate the potent impact of this work."

ASALH - The Founders of Black History Month | BLACK HISTORY THEMES. (2022, January 5). https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/

Invisible Changemakers of Industry: African Americans and Labor
From the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
National Black History Month: February 2025
A collection of recent statistics about African Americans in the workforce, from the United States Census Bureau.
Black History Month - February 2025: African Americans and Labor
A collection of varied Black History Month links to resources and exhibits from various Smithsonian Museums.

Black Residents of Framngham

Framingham's People of Color: 1600 - 1800
A cross-collection finding aid from the Framingham History Center that seeks to assist the public in learning more about Black and Indigenous persons who lived and labored in the area in varying states of freedom/unfreedom.

Phebey - Enslaved Child (Unknown; LIkely a Domestic Servant)
"Phebey, who was just two years old at the time of sale, was sold to the Widow Balch for 1 pound, 6 shillings, and 8 pence, the modern equivalent of roughly $370. This document forces us to face the ways in which the white people of Framingham owed their success to the subjugation and dehumanization of people of African descent, and to consider the echoes of this practice that still exist today." The image (transcript available) is a bill of sale from the Framingham History Center's 'Framingham's Top Ten' online exhibit.
Crispus Attucks - Enslaved Male Mill Worker / Sailor
Crispus Attucks, born an enslaved male of Black and Indigenous descent, holds the distinction of being the first person to die in the Boston Massacre. However, prior to that, in his late 20s, he escaped from his servitude under Framingham's Wiilliam Brown. Attucks then worked as a sailor for about 20 years, before fatefully ending up as part of the angry mob in Boston on March 5th, 1770 and being shot by British soldiers, dying instantly - the first martyr of the American Revolution was ironically, technically still a 'fugitive slave'. From the Framingham History Center online 'Framingham Biography' collection.
Meta Warrick Fuller - Sculptor
"Meta Warrick Fuller (1877 – 1968) is an important figure for a wide array of people. As a female artist of color, she broke down gender and racial barriers despite adversity and discrimination." From the Framingham History Center online 'Framingham Biographies' exhibit

Selected Black FSU Alums - Short Biographies

Mary Miles Bibb - FSU Class 1843 - Educator / Journalist / Businesswoman
Born a free Black American, Mary attended FSU back when it was a Normal School, becoming its first Black graduate. Mary worked as a teacher, newspaper editor, abolitionist, and businesswoman. She emigrated with her husband Henry Bibb (an escapee from enslavement and also an influential abolitionist) from the US to Canada, after the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act was passed. There, they both did much to support the growing Black Canadian population (many of whom were escaped slaves) settling near what later became Toronto. Due to her newspaper work, some consider her the first Black Canadian woman journalist. At the FSU community's request, FSU recently re-named a residence hall in her honor.
(No known photograph of Mary Bibbs exists; conceptual depiction by Black Canadian artist Komi Olaf.)
Olivia Davidson Washington - FSU Class of 1881 - Educator / Administrator
Educator and co-founder, alongside her future husband Booker T. Washington, of Tuskegee Normal School, which became Tuskegee Institute, then University. Especially instrumental in crucial fund raising during the institution's early years. Her stepdaughter Portia Washington Pittman also attended FSU.
Jeff Stetson - FSU Class of 1973 - Playwright / Screenwriter / Novelist
An internationally acclaimed award-winning playwright screenwriter for film and television, and novelist. His numerous stage plays have been produced in all fifty-states and several countries.
Photo credit: Anwar Stetson.
Robin Welch - FSU Class of 1977 - Educator / Admnistrator
Robin spent 36 years as an educator in school systems across Eastern Massachusetts, including Brookline, Wayland, Milton, and Framingham. Recognition and awards include Massachusetts Principal of the Year in 2005 by the Massachusetts Elementary Principals Association, the National Distinguished Principal Award from the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the United States Department of Education in 2005, and the FSU Alumni Educator award in 2024.
Alicia L. Hyndman - MPA, FSU Class of (TBA) - Politician
Assemblywoman Hyndman’s professional career spans over fifteen years with the NYS Department of Education as a Senior Professional Conduct Investigator, overseeing adult trade and vocational schools. She previously held many educational policy-related positions, including Counselor for the Brooklyn College Educational Talent Search Program; Director of Minority Affairs at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of NYIT; and Assistant with the New York State Education Department Office of Higher Education. She was elected to the New York State Assembly on November 3rd, 2015, in the 29th District, and remains the incumbant..
Jamal Kirk - FSU Class of 2018 - Marketing & Development Manager
As a Harvard College Alumni Program Service Desk Assistant Director, Jamal leads the front line alumni support team for Harvard College Alumni Programs, developing cross functional operational strategy, compiling intelligence reporting, and managing inbound service desk inquires via the Service Now platform.
Enjely Mora-Klapper - FSU Class of 2018 - Registered Dietician
Enjely Mora, MS, RD, LDN, is a Registered Dietician with credentials in assisting Sport Performance and Eating Disorder clients. Her work experience includes Nichols College, MetroWest Nutrition, and the Houston Astros Minor League Baseball Team.
Joshua Onujiogu - FSU Class of 2022 - Professional Athlete
Joshua Onujiogu, originally from Wareham, MA, is a professional athlete (football linebacker - #49) for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. During his time at FSU on its football team, he received the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) defensive player of the year award.