Over 50 years of A.B.L.E. history can be found in the Knox archives, including photographs, news articles, brochures, and more. The following is a chronological look at the people and places that made A.B.L.E. what it is today.

Pre-1968: Although open to African-American students, for most of its history Knox enrolled few, if any, in a given year. Charles Hopkins, a 1902 graduate, was the first African-American graduate since Barnabus Root more than 30 years earlier.

1968: Galesburg’s Public Square hosts a rally for the U.S. presidential campaign of segregationist George Wallace. Knox students protested at the rally and held anti-Wallace rallies on campus.

May 1968: Dick Gregory, also a candidate for U.S. president, speaks at Knox: “Good evening. How do you say ‘It’s a pleasure to be in Galesburg.’ I’ve been practicing it, but it won’t come out…” Fall: A.B.L.E. is founded. “One of the main objectives of A.B.L.E. is to make life at Knox College more relevant to Black students.”

Fall 1968: A.B.L.E. is founded. "One of the main objectives of A.B.L.E. is to make life at Knox College more relevant to Black students."

February 11, 1969: A.B.L.E. students confront President Sharvy Umbeck and present 10 demands. An administration news release praises the thoroughness of the document.

March 5, 1969: The College’s response to A.B.L.E.'s 10 demands is covered by media, including the Peoria Journal Star.

Spring 1969: In the wake of A.B.L.E.'s demands, its posters are vandalized. A black flag is mounted on the brick tower between Old Main and Alumni Hall.

1969: The Admission Office publishes a brochure, “Tellin It Like It Is,” written by A.B.L.E. students. The brochure says Knox is working to hire Black faculty.

1969: The first A.B.L.E. House opened in 1969 at 362 S. Academy, shown here in 1973.

1969: Knox’s first Black faculty are hired. Karl Helms teaches sociology from 1969 to 1976.

1969: Phyllis Bracey-Helms teaches English from 1969 to 1979.

February 1970: The first Black Kaliedoscope—a student talent show—is held.

1973: A.B.L.E. members gather in Founders Lounge in Seymour Union for an iconic, oft-reprinted group photo.

1976: A.B.L.E. members on the front steps of A.B.L.E. House.

1978: The Black Alumni Association of Knox College is founded by alumni living in the Chicago area. Its expressed goal places support for current students on equal footing with alumni gatherings.

1980: Members of A.B.L.E.

1988: Conversion of A.B.L.E. House to offices is one of the incidents that sparks protest. Demands presented to faculty and President John McCall include a permanent house for A.B.L.E., more Black faculty, a stranger Office of Minority Affairs, and workshops to help faculty "deal with minority students on a one-to-one basis." Sometime prior to 1988: A.B.L.E. students paint three murals (pictured above) in the basement of the original House on South Academy, which has been used for offices and employee housing and is now the chapter house for the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority.

1988: Fred Hord is hired to a joint appointment in English and Black Studies.

1988: A.B.L.E. spends one year in a house on Tompkins before moving to its current location, the A.B.L.E. Center for Black Culture, 168 West Tompkins.

1988-present: Following A.B.L.E.'s demands to faculty and administration, Knox sought to recruit and retain more African-American faculty and students.

1989: The Association for Black Culture Centers, a national organization founded by Professor Fred Hord, holds its first national conference at Knox. ABCC has grown to more than 50 member institutions and more than 150 affiliates.

2010: Tianna Cervantez ’06, initially director of multicultural student advisement, is named director of the Center for Intercultural Life; duties include serving as A.B.L.E.’s faculty advisor.

2014: Ariyana Smith ’16, a member of Knox’s women’s basketball team, lies down on the court prior to a game at a college near Ferguson, Missouri, site of unrest following the police shooting of Michael Brown. Smith is suspended from playing, a decision that is subsequently reversed. Her protest receives wide coverage.

January 2015: A.B.L.E. organizes a demonstration in solidarity with Ariyana Smith ’16, holding a die-in outside Harbach Theatre after the annual Martin Luther King Day Convocation.

January 2015: A.B.L.E. organizes a demonstration in solidarity with Ariyana Smith ’16, holding a die-in outside Harbach Theatre after the annual Martin Luther King Day Convocation.

2016: A.B.L.E. students and alumni gather at Homecoming.

2016: Founding of BAN, the Black Alumni Network. See their website, knoxcollegeblackalumninetwork.com, for information on 50th anniversary celebrations.

2035: Opening of the time capsule placed in the College Archives by A.B.L.E. students in 2015.