Afro House Brochure, Black Student Union

The Afro House, located at 10th and Rhode Island, was sponsored by the Black Student Union (BSU). The Afro House served as the home for KU’s Black Studies Program and reinforced the Black Power Movement’s emphasis on increasing awareness of Black culture, history, and various forms of artistic expression. Ongoing efforts from the BSU, KU faculty, and administrators led to the creation of the Department of African Studies, which was officially approved and organized on August 25, 1970 within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The objective of the department was to pursue the systematic study of African civilizations in Africa and the Americas. Unlike the Black Studies Program, it was based on campus. The Kansas Board of Regents approved the baccalaureate degree in African Studies in 1972.

Founding African Studies Chair Jacob Gordon led students and faculty in negotiating the name of the new department. Should it be called Black Studies or African Studies?

In 1986, the department changed its name to African and African-American Studies (AAAS) to emphasize the historic and contemporary ties between African and African-descended people in the Americas.

Watch Professor Dorthy Pennington interview Professor Gordon