Northwest Neighbors Village and Georgetown Village are delighted to work together to bring this informative, in-person program to you!

Higher Education for African Americans 1850 to 1954: A little about attendance at HBCUs and PWIs

Thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris, former Representative Stacey Abrams and others, the term “HBCU” is in the news more now than ever before.

Just what is an HBCU? Local resident Linda Crichlow White will provide a bit of history about Historically Black Colleges and Universities and about some African Americans who attended Predominantly White Institutions beginning in the early 1800s.

Linda Crichlow White is the Immediate Past-President of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, James Dent Walker Chapter-DC, and co-author of Back There, Then, a Historical and Genealogical Memoir.

Linda was born in Washington and attended public schools there before attending college and beginning a teaching career in Brooklyn, New York. She attended West Virginia State College for undergraduate School and earned a MS in Human Ecology at Howard University. Linda taught home economics in both Brooklyn and DC Public Schools for 20 years before attending Catholic University, earning a Masters in Library Science and working as a School Library Media Specialist in Montgomery County, Maryland. After retirement in 2013 she worked on writing her family history, using historical documents and images that she found in the homes of her mother and aunts. In retirement, she speaks about local history and genealogy and volunteers at the National Museum of African American History and Culture—where there are some family objects on display. Linda has been a featured speaker at the Family History Center at NMAAHC; at the Federation for Genealogy Societies; at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and at other local and national events.

Most of Linda’s genealogy research is focused on her mother’s side of the family—with some Glovers, Garlands, Stevens, beginning before the Civil War and tied to Nelson, Amherst and Appomattox Counties and the City of Lynchburg in Virginia and continuing in the 20^th century to Duquesne, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC and Boston. Her father’s side—the Crichlows—also has an interesting story, including that of her paternal grandfather Cyril Crichlow—a native of Trinidad, BWI who served as Marcus Garvey’s speechwriter and Resident Commissioner in Liberia. She is also researching her paternal grandmother’s ancestors who were “free” in Pennsylvania, documented back to the 1790’s.

Linda is married to a librarian and they have two adult children and one grandchild.

This program will take place at Georgetown Village. Limited on-site parking is available. Carpool is recommended.