Black History Project

Resources are listed in alphabetical order. More information can always be found by using our website search bar, or contacting a member of our staff.

Biographies

16 items

Blue, Richard

Richard Blue (1842-1921) was born in Ohio and came to Bloomington at age 9 with Judge Rayburn a...

Biography

Brown, Henry L.

Henry Brown was never afraid to learn new skills to overcome the challenges life threw at him. ...

Biography

Bynum, Edward

True and literal meaning is leant to the phrase “brothers in arms” by and his younger brother L...

Biography

Bynum, Lincoln

True and literal meaning is leant to the phrase “brothers in arms” by Lincoln Bynum and his old...

Biography

Calcote, Matilda

Matilda Bell Heaston entered the world on November 30, 1910. Born to Jake and Doshie (Robinson)...

Biography

Calimese, Louise

Napoleon J. Calimese (pronounced Calimeez) was born February 18, 1890 in Irvine, Kentucky. He w...

Biography

Calimese, Napoleon

Napoleon J. Calimese (pronounced Calimeez) was born February 18, 1890 in Irvine, Kentucky. He w...

Biography

Portrait of a young Black woman with her hair parted down the middle and pulled back. She is wearing a black and white dress and is looking at the camera with a closed-mouth smile.

Clark, Lue Anna Sanders

Lue Anna Brown was born on January 26, 1892 in a rural area in Bandana, Kentucky, to William an...

Biography

Covington, Dr. Eugene

Dr. E. G. Covington was the first established and successful African American medical doctor in...

Biography

Duff, Alverta

Alverta Duff was the oldest child of Peter Charles and Fannie E. (Walker) Duff. She was born o...

Biography

Duff, Peter

Peter Duff moved to Normal, IL after fleeing Kentucky following the end of the American Civil W...

Biography

Ebo, Sister Mary Antona

Sister Mary Antona Ebo was a well-behaved woman who DID make history as one of the Sisters of S...

Biography

Jones, Annie Ethel

Annie Ethel Jones (1899 – 1991) was a Black woman born and reared on a Mississippi farm, which ...

Biography

Kennedy, Merlin Robert

The local story of the American Civil Rights Movement, especially in McLean County, cannot be t...

Biography

Sanders, Isaac

Isaac Joshua Beasley Sanders was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on January 17, 1878. He was the ...

Biography

Stearles, Willis

Much of what we know today about Willis Stearles comes from oral history, members of the commun...

Biography

Finding Aids

1 item

Barton House Archaeology and Family History

Milton Barton worked for Jesse Fell (founder and developer of Normal) and reportedly planted ma...

Finding Aid

Oral Histories

15 items

Caribel Washington

Caribel Washington lived most of her life in Bloomington. She graduated from Bloomington High ...

Oral History

Claude Hursey

Claude Hursey was born in Mississippi, the son of a Greek father and an African-American mother...

Oral History

Ethel Murray

Ethel Murray was born in Lincoln. She remembers a childhood relatively free from racial prejudi...

Oral History

Howard and Elaine Bell

Early Bloomington family, WWII veteran, Depression era history, Elaine was active in community ...

Oral History

Josephine Samuels & Reginald Whittaker

Normal, IL family, business, work at Woolworth's, GTE, Baha'i...

Oral History

Kathyrn Dean

State Farm employee, civic & social clubs, grandfather was Civil War veteran....

Oral History

Lucinda Posey

Pre-Civil war Bloomington family, Dir. of Medical Records (Brokaw Hospital), community & ci...

Oral History

Lue Anna Clark

Father was enslaved, WWI era restaurant business, boarding of ISNU students...

Oral History

Merlin and Beulah Kennedy

Active in civil rights, NAACP, Youth Council, employment & housing issues....

Oral History

Oscar and Ruth Waddell

WWII veteran, skilled employment at GE, breaking employment barriers, home ownership, Willis St...

Oral History

Richard and Rose Bell

Business owner and farmer, Rose Anna from early McLean County family, Illinois Soldiers & ...

Oral History

Robert Gaston

Barber, WWII veteran, Chamber of Commerce Board member....

Oral History

Robert and Lillian Augusta Boykin

Social clubs, Union Baptist Church, domestic, yard & railroad work, farm life & sharecr...

Oral History

Roy and Delores Shavers

Melody Gospel Choir, African-American business in Bloomington & Clinton, St. Mary's Ca...

Oral History

Wilbur Barton

Early Normal family, ISNU grad & athlete, WWII veteran, teacher/principal....

Oral History

Videos

3 items

A Black Woman’s Journey from Cotton Picking to College Professor

Video

BNBHP Presents: A Reunion: the Booker T. Washington Home

Video

We all Played Together: A Historical Account of African- American Musicians

Video