Timeline: 1894
Albert R. Lee was hired as a messenger in the office of the University of Illinois president.
George Washington Riley (1874-1897) was the first African American to enroll as a special student in Arts and Design at the University of Illinois. He was a prominent member of the University’s Military Band, noted for his precise drum work. In 1897 he was appointed head instructor of the Art Department of all Black Central College in Nashville, TN, just before his untimely death from Typhoid Fever in June.
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