Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Black ISU students formed the Black Student Organization and began organized efforts to advocate for equitable treatment across the campus. This would take the form of protests, letters, sit-ins, and the push for the hiring of Black faculty and staff, as well as a facility for Black students could gather and socialize. The Black Cultural Center (BCC) was dedicated on September 27, 1970. The BCC operated as a stand-alone, private nonprofit with no official ties to Iowa State University, but often worked with the BSO to sponsor programs throughout the school year highlighting Black and African culture. Since its inception, the Center had difficulty with funding, having relied on donations for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community to keep its doors open. By 1995 the facility needed $40,000 in repairs and an agreement was reached between ISU and the BCC for the University to formally recognize the organization as a University affiliate and to provide fundraising support through the ISU Foundation. On May 20, 2017, the Black Cultural Center was renamed in honor of Dr. George A. Jackson, first director of the [former] Office of Minority Student Affairs, Associate Dean of the Graduate College, Director of the BCC, and Special Assistant to the Provost.

The physical exhibition will be open through the end of 2021. For questions and additional information, contact Greg Bailey, University Archivist, gtbailey@iastate.edu. Click for More information. 

8 Grievances – Student Organizations –Multicultural Student Organization Records, RS 22/3, box 1, folder 17.