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Born enslaved in Mississippi in 1853, W. Scott Montgomery escaped with Union troops. Brought north and placed with a Vermont family, he prepared at Leland and Gray Seminary and completed studies at Dartmouth, graduating with honors in 1878. His retirement in 1924 was an occasion for a thrilling testimonial. "Dr. Montgomery in the last half-century in Washington D.C. directed the education of his Race. Befriended by Colonel Dutton of the 8th Vermont troops, brought North for a glimpse of opportunity to live with the Cathan family of Townshend, VT, graduated from Dartmouth with Phi Beta Kappa rank, for forty-two years, principal and supervising principal of colored schools, devoting himself entirely to securing equality of opportunity for colored children, and finally retired with honors. Did not the man span centuries of human progress."

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Raised in Petersburg, Virginia, by free parents, James. M. Colson entered Dartmouth with the Class of 1883. Excelling academically and invited into the Alpha Delta fraternity, he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Returning to Petersburg, Colson joined the faculty of Virginia Normal and College Institute (now Virginia Union) and assumed a leadership position a year later. After earning an M.A. degree from Dartmouth, W.E.B. Dubois recommended him to the American Negro Academy, an assembly of Black intellectuals. At Colson's death in 1909, an editor wrote, "Perhaps no man of his race was more widely or favorably known in his vicinity. No man had a higher conception of duty, and no man was more earnest or energetic in prosecuting the work his hands found to do."

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In Ernest E. Just's biography, The Black Apollo of Science, author Kenneth Manning recalled Just’s shameful oversight at the 1907 Dartmouth commencement. “Just ranked as a Rufus Choate Scholar and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; he alone graduated magna cum laude, but he did not deliver a commencement address. Perhaps it would be a faux pas to allow a black man to address the crowd.” Born in Charleston, SC, and a graduate of Kimball Union, Just dazzled Dartmouth professors and challenged dogma and convention during his brilliant scientific career in the U.S. and Europe. His research prefigured the modern field of epigenetics. Some said, “he was condemned by race to a restricted field of practice despite ranking among the most eminent biologists of his time.”

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Born in Helena, Arkansas, the son of a physician, John M. Marquess completed undergraduate studies at Fisk University and joined Dartmouth as a junior with the Class of 1904. He was a member of the college choir, the Glee Club with fellow Black classmate Matt Bullock, and the varsity track team. After graduation, Marquess began a busy academic career with positions at mid-Western schools before assuming the presidency of Langston University (Oklahoma) for nearly a decade. In later years, he was active in the Elks Club of Philadelphia and national Republic Party affairs. He is remembered for seconding Herbert Hoover’s nomination at the Republican National convention of 1932. Marquess died four years later at the age of 54.

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Born in Bermuda, Robinson emigrated to Franconia, NH, finding work in resort hotels and then gaining admission to Dow Academy before entering Dartmouth. His classmates described him as "always self-respecting; asking no favors and accepting rebuffs with pained patience." Robinson was a varsity track athlete and member of the Dramatic Club. After college, he joined the faculty of Tuskegee Institute and, in later years, headed Black academies in Alabama and Georgia. A rising voice in Republican politics, his promising career ended prematurely with tuberculosis at age 39. His wife, Lillie Mae Hill, moved to Detroit with their son, Remus G. Robinson, Jr., who would graduate from the University of Michigan and become a leader among physicians and educators in Detroit, MI.

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Charles T. Davis studied American literature at Dartmouth, where some alleged he was denied a Rhodes scholarship in 1939 because of his race. After Ph.D. studies at N.Y.U., he was the first Black granted tenure in the English department at Yale and led its Afro-American Studies program to national prominence. He died at age 63 from cancer. At his memorial service, Yale President Giamatti said. "He never imposed upon you; he summoned you out of yourself. Charles never bid you be his loyal friend; once you met him, you could choose no other course. To be with him or around him was an education in how to be faithful to the best you could possibly be. He brought out, effortlessly, the best you had, and like everyone else, I loved him for it."