Contributions of African-American alums to be profiled on line

Frances Marshall	Marcellus Neal
Marshall and Neal are among those honored on the new IU Alumni Association Web site which features the numerous contributions made by African Americans at Indiana University.

New IUAA Web site operative Feb. 1 in recognition of Black History Month

Marcellus Neal graduated from Indiana University in 1895 with a bachelor's degree in math. A year later, in 1896, Preston Eagleson followed with a bachelor's in philosophy. Since those first two African Americans graduated from IU, well over 13,000 others have followed. Many have made significant contributions to the character and distinguished stature the university reflects today.

In their honor, and in recognition of Black History Month, the IU Alumni Association (IUAA) will launch a Web page titled "African Americans at IU."

The page is scheduled to be operative on Feb. 1 and will be accessible through the IU Alumni Association site. Links to the IU Archives, the Neal Marshall Alumni club, the IUB Department of Afro-American Studies and the IUB Office of African-American Affairs will also be part of the design.

The new Web site not only honors those who have made significant contributions to the character of the university, but offers a tutorial on line of the African Americans who have helped shape the history of the institution.

"In 1980, the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club was founded to address the needs of African Americans at IU," said Jerry Tardy, director of the IU Alumni Association. "The name honors Marcellus Neal and Frances Marshall as the first African-American male and female graduates of IU. But we wanted a way to recognize the many other African Americans--faculty, staff and students--who have left a mark on our university."

The page features not only Neal, Marshall and Eagleson, but also recognizes Kappa Alpha Psi, formerly called Kappa Alpha Nu, the first African-American fraternity at IU founded, in 1911.

Three barrier-breaking athletes are noted--Bill Garrett (1947), George Taliaferro (1948) and Ed Whitehall (1956). Garrett was the Big Ten's first African-American basketball player, while Taliaferro played on IU's 1945 undefeated football team and was the first African American to be drafted by an NFL team. Whitehead was IU's first African-American baseball player.

In 1959, Nancy Streets became IU's first African-American "Miss IU," and in 1960, Thomas Atkins assumed an historic role as the Big Ten's first African-American student body president. Both are featured on the alumni Web page.

Richard Johnson, IU's first African-American tenured professor in 1959, is noted, as is David Baker, Distinguished Professor of music and chairman of the IU School of Music jazz department at IUB. He was appointed to the faculty in 1966.

Other alumni of note are Cora Smith Breckenridge and Clarence Boone. Breckenridge is the first African-American member of the Trustees of IU; she was elected in 1997. Boone is co-founder and former national president of the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club and the 1997-98 national president of the IU Alumni Association. He is the second African American to hold the position of IUAA president. The first was Edward High in 1981 82.

IU's Thomas Atkins was the Big Ten's first African-American student body president.

The page was developed by Joan Hall, IUAA assistant director of marketing, and designed by Amy Bellinger, IUAA Webmaster. Much of the research and many of the photos came via generous assistance from the IU Archives.

The IUAA features other special pages at its Web site. Those include one on University Chancellor Herman B Wells and another on "Women at IU." These pages and others can be accessed at:

www.indiana.edu/~alumni

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