In 1887, there were no documented black students or faculty members at the Institute. Robert R. Taylor, MIT's first black graduate, would enter MIT a year later.

The earliest graphic evidence of a black presence at the Institute is found in illustrations of MIT service staff--cooks, waiters, janitorial staff, and the porter service attached to residence halls. Caricatures in student publications (yearbook, newspapers, and "humor" magazines) echo tropes also prevalent in the national media of the time.