Considered among Case Western Reserve University’s oldest graduates, the late Icabod Flewellen earned his bachelor’s degree in American history in 1993 at age 76.
But prior to that achievement, Flewellen had already left his mark on Cleveland by establishing the African American Museum (originally the Afro-American Cultural & Historical Society Museum) in 1953. The museum was a product of Flewellen’s passion for collecting artifacts related to African-American history.
Today, the East Cleveland Public Library has a collection named in honor of Flewellen, who passed away in 2001.
Flewellen also received a 1981 National Endowment for the Humanities grant, which he used to study Alexander Pushkin in the USSR.