Throughout February, Baton Rouge Community College will celebrate Black History Month featuring several prominent African American men and women who were trailblazers in the field of education. Take this historical journey with BRCC as we learn more about their significant contributions and how some were the first to break barriers that would inspire, encourage and influence generations of men and women of all races, creeds, and colors. We will honor and recognize their legacies and the imprint they made in education.
George Washington Henderson is credited as being the first African American member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
Georgiana R. Simpson became the first black woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States on June 14, 1921.
Alain Leroy Locke was the first African American to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar, studying at Oxford for three years.
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune became one of the most prominent African American educators, government officials, civil rights activists, and women’s rights leaders of the twentieth century.