This Black History Month we’re taking time to recognize individuals whose leadership and persistence expanded access to education despite systemic barriers.
In higher education, Black educators and scholars have shaped pathways that continue to create opportunities for students today. At Front Range Community College, education is often the starting point where students explore and grow in their educational journeys.
As an inclusive, open access institution, we honor pioneers whose work laid the foundation for generations of learners.
Biologist, Advocate, Pioneer
Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941)
A pioneering biologist and educator, Ernest Everett Just made significant contributions to cell biology while advocating for rigorous scientific training for Black students.
Born in 1883, Just earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1907 and began teaching literature at Howard University. He pursued research opportunities at a marine biology laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, at a time when formal enrollment pathways for Black students were limited.
Just enrolled at the University of Chicago in 1911 and completed his doctorate in zoology in 1916. He made key discoveries in cell biology, including important findings on cell cleavage, and published his most influential work, The Biology of the Cell Surface, in 1939.
In the 1930s, he conducted research in Europe, where he accessed opportunities often denied to Black scholars in the United States. He returned to the US as World War II approached and died in 1941, leaving a legacy as one of the most important Black scientists of his era.
Source: University of Chicago Library
A Fearless Leader
Anna Julia Cooper (1858–1964)
A pioneering educator, writer and activist, Anna Julia Haywood Cooper championed education for African Americans and women. She emphasized that educated Black women were essential to strengthening their communities and advancing civil rights.
Born into slavery in 1858 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in 1884 and a master’s in mathematics in 1887. She taught at Wilberforce University and Saint Augustine’s before moving to Washington, DAC, to teach at Washington Colored High School.
In 1892, Cooper published her first book, A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South, a collection of essays advocating equal education for women and highlighting the importance of educated Black women in community advancement. She lectured nationally on education, civil rights and the status of Black women.
Cooper helped found the Colored Women’s League and, in 1925, at age 67, earned a doctorate from the University of Paris, becoming the fourth African American woman to do so. She later led Frelinghuysen University until its closure in 1950.
Source: Columbia University
A Lasting Legacy
Euphemia Lofton Haynes (1890–1980)
A pioneering mathematician and educator, Euphemia Lofton Haynes was the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics and a lifelong advocate for educational equity.
Born in Washington, DC, in 1890, Haynes earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Smith College in 1914 and a master’s in education from the University of Chicago in 1930. She earned her doctorate at Catholic University in 1943 with a dissertation titled The Determination of Sets of Independent Conditions Characterizing Certain Special Cases of Symmetric Correspondences.
Haynes taught for forty-seven years across all levels of the DC public schools, helped establish the mathematics department at Miner Teachers College—now the University of the District of Columbia—after she became a professor there in 1930. She served on the DC Board of Education from 1960 to 1968, chairing the board from 1966 to 1967, and played a key role in ending de facto school segregation following Brown v. Board of Education.
Haynes also co-founded the Catholic Interracial Council of DC, served as vice president of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women and received the Papal Medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 1959. She died in 1980 at age 90, leaving a legacy that includes a professorship and a mathematics award in her name.
Source: The Catholic University of America
Education as a Starting Point
Community colleges serve as gateways to higher education, offering students a place to explore, grow and imagine new possibilities.
The work of educators like Just, Cooper and Haynes expanded access to higher education for Black students, creating pathways that continue to influence who can pursue academic and professional opportunities. Their legacy lives in the students who begin their journeys at institutions like FRCC, carrying forward the principle that education should be equitable and accessible.
Black History Month at FRCC
Throughout February, FRCC is hosting events for students and employees to engage with Black voices, experiences and contributions:
New Blood Line Hip Hop Group
Join us to celebrate Black History Month with a dynamic hip hop performance from New Bloodline and some delicious food from the African Diaspora.
Westminster Campus: Feb. 9—The Rotunda from 11:30 AM to 2 PM
Boulder County Campus: Feb. 10—Multicultural and Identity Center from 11:30 PM to 2 PM
Larimer Campus: Feb. 11—Longs Peak Student Center (East/West conference rooms) from 11:30 AM to 2 PM
Kente Paper Weaving
Learn the art of Kente weaving and about its origin from the West African countries of Ghana and Togo.
Feb. 16-19 (at all campuses) in the Multicultural & Identity Centers—all day
