Antoine Alston, Ph.D., who has served the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences for more than two decades as a professor and administrator, is one of two inaugural inductees into the new North Carolina Heritage Black Agriculture Hall of Fame.

Alston was honored by the North Carolina Heritage Agriculture and Life Science Institute (HAL), a private organization of Black agriculturalists and historians that organized the hall of fame, at the 18th annual Minority Farmers and Landowners Conference in Raleigh on June 13. 

“This award humbles me,” said Alston, a professor of agricultural education and associate dean of academic studies. “It makes me think I stand on the shoulders of giants who have contributed their sweat, tears and innovations to advance the science and technology of agriculture across North Carolina.”

The N.C. Heritage Black Agriculture Hall of Fame is dedicated to documenting and celebrating African Americans from North Carolina who have made significant impacts on agriculture and life sciences. It’s part of HAL’s mission to preserve these historical contributions, advance knowledge, educate current and future generations and promote a deeper understanding of the integral role that Black North Carolinians have played in shaping the agriculture and life science sectors locally and globally.

Archie Hart, a HAL board member and special assistant to the commissioner for small farms and agriculture policy with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said Alston was selected because of his tremendous contributions to secondary and higher education and to North Carolina A&T State University.

“Dr. Alston is highly capable and has been fully committed to North Carolina A&T for many years,” said Hart, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from A&T. “His hard work and dedication has helped make N.C. A&T the No. 1 HBCU school of agriculture in the nation. His contributions as a leader and a scholar over the years have been invaluable.”

Alston was awarded his bachelor’s and master’s from A&T before earning his doctorate in agricultural education from Iowa State University in 2000. He joined the CAES faculty that same year.

During his A&T tenure, Alston has designed and implemented several academic programs, including A&T’s first online graduate program (a master’s program in agricultural education), a 2+2 online undergraduate agricultural education program that has served as a national model for community college students who want to transfer to four-year agricultural schools, and the Ph.D. program in agricultural and environmental sciences, the first CAES doctoral offering. Alston is co-author of a 2022 book about the history of New Farmers of America, which once trained Black youth to become the next generation of farmers and leaders.

Alston has won numerous career accolades, including the UNC Board of Governor’s Teaching Excellence Award. In 2010, Alston was the first Black recipient of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award.

“Dr. Alston has always been a staunch supporter of agriculture, and he has worked tirelessly to prepare future generations to work in and support this industry,” said Shirley Hymon-Parker, Ph.D., the interim CAES dean. “He has paved the way with his passion, hard work and contributions to the profession. This honor is well deserved.”

The other inaugural hall of fame inductee was Timothy Pigford, the Bladen County farmer who was the lead plaintiff in the 1997 class-action lawsuit alleging discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Black farmers in its farm loan and assistance programs. Resulting settlements of this case and related legal actions led to payouts of billions of dollars to small, limited-resource and minority farmers across the United States.

“African American agricultural history is not just about the production of food and fiber,” Alston said. “It’s also civil rights history that details a legacy of labor, sacrifice and innovation that helped create this country. And it tells the story of how far we have to go.”