Shaw University, Oberlin Village, the founding of SNCC and Clarence Lightner.
Shaw And Saint Augustine's
On December 1, 1865, Henry Martin Tupper and the American Baptist Home Mission Society founded Shaw University, the oldest historically Black university to begin offering courses in the South. Its campus sits in downtown Raleigh. In 1867 Episcopal clergy founded Saint Augustine's to educate formerly enslaved people, and in 1896 Rev. and Mrs. Aaron Burtis Hunter founded St. Agnes Hospital in Raleigh, which became one of the primary Black healthcare facilities between Richmond and Atlanta.
Oberlin Village
Oberlin Village's roots go back to 1858, when Jesse Pettiford, a free Black tenant farmer, bought 16 acres outside Raleigh. After the Civil War freedmen settled the area around New Hillsborough Road, buying land and building homes, some with financing from the Raleigh Cooperative Land and Building Association, led by the Black legislator and developer James Henry Harris. Wilson Temple United Methodist Church is still an active place of worship and gathering, and the Oberlin Cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
SNCC Is Born
In April 1960 Ella Baker of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized a student meeting at Shaw. Student delegates came from 58 sit-in centers in 12 states, among them Diane Nash, John Lewis, Marion Barry, Julian Bond and Charles McDew. Baker told them that strong people don't need strong leaders, and rather than become a youth wing of the SCLC, they formed their own organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Clarence Lightner
Clarence Lightner took over his family's funeral home in 1959. In November 1973, in the first election in which Raleigh's voters chose their mayor directly, he won, becoming the first African American elected mayor of a mostly white, major Southern city in the United States.
Black Raleigh Today
From Shaw's downtown campus to Oberlin Village, Raleigh's Black history is part of the capital's map, and Black-owned restaurants, salons, shops and brands are part of everyday Raleigh.
Shop Black-owned businesses in Raleigh on CashBlack.
Photo Credits
The historic chapel at St. Augustine's University. Photo: Mx. Granger, CC0, Wikimedia Commons Tyler Hall at Shaw University. Photo: Daderot, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons