Transcript History Of Historically Black C0lleges and Universities

Illinois CAN Meeting Fall 2009
 The term Historically Black Colleges and Universities refers
to a group of 105 U.S. colleges and universities founded
with the primary mission of educating people of African
descent.
 In the Higher Education Act of 1965, the federal
government formally recognized 105 colleges as Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). To qualify for
this designation, institutions had to fit the following
criteria. Each school had to have been:
 Accredited by a national or nationally recognized regional
accrediting agency.
 Founded before 1964.
 Founded for the purpose of educating black students.
 US Southern and Eastern States and territories
 105 historically black colleges and universities in the
United States,
4-Year Public
40
4-Year Private
49
2-Year Public
11
2-Year Private
5
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1823 Alexander Lucius Twilight becomes the first African American to receive a
bachelor's degree in the United States, from Middlebury College in Vermont.
1837 In Pennsylvania, the first historically black college is established. Founded by
Philadelphia Quaker Richard Humphreys, The Institute for Colored Youth was
originally a teacher training college. The school later became known as Cheyney
University, which remains the oldest historically black institute of higher education in
the United States.
1862 Mary Jane Patterson becomes the first African American woman to receive a
bachelor's degree in the United States, from Oberlin College in Ohio.
1869 Howard University opens the first black School of Law in the United States. The
school was founded in part to help address the legal needs of newly freed slaves.
1876 Edward Alexander Bouchet, a student at Yale University, becomes the first
African American in the United States to earn a PhD. He also was only the sixth American
ever to earn a PhD in Physics.
1881 In Atlanta, Georgia, the first traditionally black woman's college is founded by
Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard. Originally called the Atlanta Baptist Female
Seminary, it now is known as Spelman College.
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1907 Alair Leroy Locke becomes the first African American Rhodes Scholar. A graduate of Harvard University,
Locke earned his PhD from Harvard in 1918.
1922 At Howard University, William Leo Hansberry (uncle of the playwright Lorraine Hansberry) teaches the first
course in the U.S. on African Civilizations. He also established the African Civilization Section of the Howard
University History Department.
1921 The first three African American women earn doctoral degrees: Georgianna Simpson from The University of
Chicago, Eva Beatrice Dykes from Radcliffe College, and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander from The University
of Pennsylvania.
1944 The United Negro College Fund is established. This philanthropic organization raises money to support
students at 39 historically black college and universities. Since 1972, the organization has been well known for its
motto, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
1960 Four college students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College sat down at an all-white Woolworth
lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina and politely refused to leave until they were served. Although they were
not served lunch, their sit-in was a landmark moment in the Civil Rights Movement that sparked a wave of sit-ins and
economic boycotts of Woolworth stores nationwide. Six months later, the students were served lunch.
1962 Escorted by federal marshals under the orders of President John F. Kennedy, James Meredith becomes the first
African American student to attend the University of Mississippi. Riots ensued, which led to two deaths and dozens
of injuries. Meredith graduated in 1963.
1963 At the University of Alabama, Governor George Wallace tried to physically block the admission of Vivian
Malone and James Hood, two African American students who had been admitted by court order into the university.
The National Guard was present to protect the students. Governor Wallace eventually stepped aside, and two years
later Vivian Malone became the first African American student to graduate from the University of Alabama.
1968 The first Black Studies Department in the United States is established at San Francisco State University.
1998. The University of California Berkeley establishes the first U.S. doctoral program is African Diaspora Studies.
Few Options
 A Need to Improve
Education for Blacks
 Very few schools open
or inviting to Blacks
Virginia Normal and
Collegiate Institute
Class of 1886
 Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)– graduate of Hampton
University, born into slavery and freed by the Civil War,
founded Tuskegee Institute to train freed Blacks in the
practical arts and sciences.
 W.E.B Dubois (1868-1963), undergrad at Fisk University,
born free in Massachusetts, stressed that was essential that
blacks receive training not only in vocational fields, but
also in the liberal arts.
 Dubois feuded very openly with Washington over the
proper strategy for educating black university students.
Dubois felt quite strongly that Washington's universal
vocational training only perpetuated the servitude of
slavery.
 AMA (American Missionary Association) Freedmen’s
Bureau, and Black Churches responsible for
establishment of private colleges
 Between 1861 and 1870, the AMA founded seven black
colleges and 13 normal (teaching) schools.
 The Morrill Land-Grant Act (1862) gave federal lands to the
states for the purpose of opening colleges and universities to
educate farmers, scientists, and teachers. Although many
such institutions were created, few were open or inviting to
blacks, particularly in the South. Only Alcorn State in
Mississippi was created for blacks.
 Post Civil War –
 13th Amendment
 Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1890,specified that states using
federal land-grant funds must either make their schools open
to both blacks and whites or allocate money for segregated
black colleges to serve as an alternative to white schools.
Sixteen exclusively black institutions received 1890 land-grant
funds.
Alabama A&M University
Alabama
Alabama State University
Alabama
Grambling State University
Louisiana
Southern University A&M College
Louisiana
Southern University at New
Orleans
Louisiana
University of Arkansas at Pine
Bluff
Arkansas
University of the District of
Columbia
District of
Columbia
Bowie State University
Maryland
Coppin State College
Maryland
Delaware State University
Delaware
Morgan State University
Maryland
Florida A&M University
Florida
Albany State University
Georgia
University of Maryland Eastern
Shore
Maryland
Fort Valley State University
Georgia
Alcorn State University
Mississippi
Savannah State University
Georgia
Jackson State University
Mississippi
Kentucky State University
Kentucky
Mississippi Valley State University
Mississippi
Harris-Stowe State University
Missouri
Lincoln University
Missouri
Lincoln University
Pennsylvania
South Carolina State University
South
Carolina
Elizabeth City State University
North Carolina
Tennessee State University
Tennessee
Fayetteville State University
North Carolina
Prairie View A&M University
Texas
North Carolina A&T State
University
North Carolina
Texas Southern University
Texas
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina
Norfolk State University
Virginia
Winston-Salem State University
North Carolina
Virginia State University
Virginia
Central State University
Ohio
Bluefield State College
West Virginia
Langston University
Oklahoma
West Virginia State University
West Virginia
Cheyney University of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
University of the Virgin Islands
U.S. Virgin
Islands
Concordia College Selma
Alabama
Bethune-Cookman University
Florida
Miles College
Alabama
Edward Waters College
Florida
Oakwood College
Alabama
Florida Memorial University
Florida
Selma University
Alabama
Clark Atlanta University
Georgia
Stillman College
Alabama
Interdenominational Theological
Center
Georgia
Talladega College
Alabama
Morehouse College
Georgia
Tuskegee University
Alabama
Arkansas Baptist College
Arkansas
Morehouse School of Medicine
Georgia
Philander Smith College
Arkansas
Morris Brown College
Georgia
Paine College
Georgia
Howard University
District of
Columbia
Spelman College
Georgia
Dillard University
Louisiana
Xavier University of
Louisiana
Louisiana
Rust College
Mississippi
Tougaloo College
Mississippi
Bennett College
North Carolina
Johnson C. Smith University
North Carolina
Livingstone College
North Carolina
Shaw University
North Carolina
Allen University
South Carolina
Benedict College
South Carolina
Claflin University
South Carolina
Morris College
South Carolina
Voorhees College
South Carolina
Fisk University
Tennessee
Knoxville College
Tennessee
Lane College
Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee
St. Augustine's College
North Carolina
Lemoyne-Owen
College
Wilberforce University
Ohio
Meharry Medical College
Huston-Tillotson
University
Texas
Jarvis Christian College
Texas
Paul Quinn College
Texas
Southwestern Christian
College
Texas
Texas College
Texas
Wiley College
Texas
Hampton University
Virginia
Saint Paul's College
Virginia
Virginia Union University Virginia
Virginia University of
Lynchburg
Virginia
Journal of College Student Development, May/June 2002,
Lamont A. Flowers
Graduation Rates
Nationwide, only 41% of African American
students who begin college graduate within 6
years
Only 37 % of HBCU students earn a bachelors
degree within six years. The figures are even
worse for Black males, with reportedly just 29
percent of them earning a degree within six
years.
HBCUs educate only one-quarter of black
college students, but produce an outsized
number of future black graduate students and
leaders. That group is distinctly female;
HBCUs award twice as many degrees to
women as to men.
More than 60% of students at HBCUs get Pell
Grants, which go mostly to students from
families earning under $30,000.