Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical (Alabama A & M) University is a historically black university located in the city of Normal, Alabama.  The school began in 1875 when Alabama officials used the Morrill Act of 1862 allowing state governments to establish colleges for African American students.  Alabama A&M University was one of the first seventeen new land-grant black institutions founded under the Morrill Act.  

When the school opened in 1875 it was called Huntsville Normal School and was located in Huntsville, Alabama.  The school began with 61 students and two teachers.  In 1878 it developed an industrial education program, which attracted private donors such as the Slater and Peabody Funds that provided crucial financial support.  The success of the industrial education program led the school to petition the state for a name change to State Normal and Industrial School at Huntsville.  The Alabama legislature also approved an increase in its funding to $4,000 per year from the original $1,000 a year.

Under the second Morrill Act in 1890, the institution received government land-grant funds for the first time, allowing its students to study agriculture and mechanical arts.  That same year, the school’s campus relocated to Normal, Alabama, a few miles north of downtown Huntsville.  In 1896 it was renamed the State Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes.

In 1919, the school became accredited as a junior college and was renamed again, this time as the State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute for Negroes.  Twenty years later in 1939, the institution became a four-year college and two years later awarded its first undergraduate baccalaureate degrees.   In 1948, the school’s name changed to Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College and finally to Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1969.  

Nicknamed “The Hill,” the university now enrolls over 4,500 undergraduate students.  With over 800 graduate students, Alabama A&M University has one of the largest graduate schools among the nations

Barbara Jean Lee was born on July 16, 1946 in El Paso, Texas.

Early Life

Wells-Barnett was born a slave on July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs, Miss.

Payne was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 16, 1934.

Wells-Barnett , née Ida Bell Wells (born July 16, 1862, Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.

Shoeless Joe Jackson , byname of Joseph Jefferson Jackson (born July 16, 1888, Greenville, S.C., U.S.—died Dec. 5, 1951, Greenville), American professional baseball player, by many accounts one of the greatest, who was ultimately banned from the game because of his involvement in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.

Born into extreme poverty, Jackson began work in a cotton mill when he was barely six and never went to school. He survived a sickly childhood caused by the lint-filled air in the mill, then grew tall and gangly, with exceptionally long, strong arms. At age 13 he was an extraordinary ballplayer, the youngest ever to play on a mill team. He acquired his nickname when nursing blistered feet from a new pair of spikes (baseball shoes). Playing without them, he hit a base-clearing triple that provoked an opposing fan to cry out, “You shoeless bastard, you!” Even his bat became part of his growing legend—Black Betsy, a locally hewn piece of hickory 36 inches (91 cm) long, weighing 48 ounces (1.4 kg), 12 ounces (340 grams) heavier than modern bats, and stained by countless splatters of tobacco juice.

In 1908 Connie Mack, owner of the Philadelphia Athletics (A’s), bought Jackson’s contract with the Greenville Spinners for $325, but the 19-year-old Shoeless Joe, homesick for his 15-year-old wife, Katie, and embarrassed by his hayseed illiteracy, got off the train at Richmond, Virginia, to catch the first train back to Greenville.

The following season Mack sent Jackson to Savannah, Georgia, where he hit a league-leading .358. When recalled to the A’s in Philadelphia, he was humiliated by the relentless hazing of veteran teammates. Mack offered to hire a tutor to teach him to read and write, but Shoeless Joe wanted none of it. In 1910 he was traded to the Cleveland Naps (later the Indians), where he hit an astonishing .407 in his first full season as a big league player. He liked the city, developing a taste for fine food and nice clothes. In an amusing irony, he loved expensive shoes. Fans liked his pleasant,

Barry Sanders, born on July 16, 1968 in Wichita, Kanas is a former American football running back. He was the son of William, who was a Roofer and Shirley, a registered nurse. He was the one of the eleven children. He attended Wichita North High School. During his career with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League, he was a ten-time pro bowl selection and four-time rushing champion.

Sanders was always athletic and had a great love for basketball. Although his father believed that it would be better for him to develop an interest in football as it would help him in winning a college scholarship. In his early years, Sanders became the starting running back in the fourth game of his senior year, where he rushed for 1417 yards which earned him all-state honors. Even though he was stellar athlete, he received scholarships from only Emporia State, University of Tulsa and Oklahoma State. He decided on going to Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma State University had very high hopes for Sanders and football. They demanded at least 50-60 hours a week due to which Sanders lacked behind in his schoolwork. During his freshman and sophomore year, Sanders played second string to Thurman Thomas. During his junior here, Sanders became the starter and proceeded to smash 13 NCAA records. Sanders had most rushing yards of 2,628 and most touchdowns 39 in a season, which led to his nomination for the coveted Heisman Trophy. After receiving the trophy, Sanders entered NFL instead of continuing his studies at Oklahoma State University, mostly because he wanted to support his family financially.

After entering the NFL, Sander signed a $6.1 million five-year contract with The Detroit Lions. They selected him with the 3rd overall pick in the 1989 draft. In the same year, Sanders was named Sporting News NFL Rookie of the Year. Due to a contract dispute, Sanders missed his rookie training camp in 1989. Sanders, during the regular season, ran for 18 yards in the first carry and a touchdown during his fourth. During the 1990s, Sanders was

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett

July 16, 1862 - March 25, 1931

born Holy Springs, Mississippi

Slave parents, lost parents and 3 siblings to yellow fever at 14, Rust University and Fisk University, became teacher, refused to give up her seat for the colored section and sued railroad in 1880s, wrote articles, pen name Iola, led national campaign against lynching, her Memphis newspaper, office was mobbed and destroyed 1892, lectured and organized clubs, protested exclusion of Blacks from Worlds Columbian Exposition 1894, married lawyer, 4 children, founded Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago with Black suffragists, marched in Washington, D.C. 1913 and Chicago 1916 suffrage parades, Chicago probation officer 1913-1916, ally of W.E.B. DuBois, felt NAACP was not outspoken enough.

Biographical information excerpted from Women Win the Vote distributed by The National Womens History Project, 7738 Bell Road, Windsor, California, 95492-8518.

Wells was born into slavery on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

Ida Wells was born a slave on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, to James and Elizabeth (Warrenton) Wells.

William Henry Johnson was born into slavery in Richmond, Virginia on July 16, 1811.

The movie, Green Pastures, premieres in New Yorks Radio City Music Hall.

Janelle Penny Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago is crowned the black Miss Universe

In Paris, jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was named a Knight in the (French) Legion of Honor, one of that nations highest cultural honors.

Donald Payne, first African American congressman from New Jersey (1988), born

Violette A. Johnson, first African American woman to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, born

Early life and education [ edit ]

Ida Bell Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862,[6] several months before United States President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in Confederate-held territory.