In the summer of 1968, Black students at UM were among a wave of college students nationwide who coordinated the establishment of African-American Studies programs. This effort occurred alongside the civil rights movement. Black students called for the founding of programs that focused on Black experience and history, topics that had been traditionally neglected and distorted within the academy. Lecturer Ulysses S. Doss, along with members of the Black Student Union, initiated the creation of the program at UM – just the third of its kind in the United States. Since 1968, lecturers in African-American Studies, like Ulysses Doss and his brother Pferron Doss, have engaged students and the public in crucial conversations. Despite being located in a region with relatively limited racial diversity, the UM’s African-American Studies program has been instrumental in engaging students in the knowledge and recognition of the experiences, perspectives, and contributions of the African diaspora -- including on UM's campus. 

Hover over each image to learn more about UM's African-American Studies Program.

Rudy Autio's legendary 1967 Griz statue is still a popular photo spot. Students of the recently formed Black Student Union and Black Studies program posed by the Griz for the 1974 issue of Watani, the Black Student Union’s yearbook.

Ulysses S. Doss worked with Martin Luther King Jr. before helping establish the Black Studies program at UM in 1968. Doss frequently lectured to rooms packed with students and members of the wider Missoula community.

Today, the African American Studies Program continues to engage students in understanding the diverse experiences of African Americans in the past and present. Classes are taught on various subjects like Black religion, Civil Rights, and Jazz by distinguished professors like Program Director Dr. Tobin Miller Shearer.

Pferron Doss, brother of Ulysses S. Doss, earned his degree from UM and lectured in the Black Studies program. Listen to this oral history interview to hear Pferron describe his experience at UM and in Missoula in the 1960s and 1970s.