Endowed Chair in Black Studies Named to Honor African-American Labor Pioneers

The John and Eula Cleveland Chair in Black History Studies at Howard University is the first endowed chair in the university's department of Afro-American studies. The chair was made possible from a $1.2 million gift from the couple’s estate.

John Cleveland was the first African-American vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Eula Cleveland was the first African-American women to sit on the executive board of a major union local.

At the ceremony announcing the naming of the chair, the couple’s lawyer stated, “John Cleveland was the Jackie Robinson of the Teamsters Union.”

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