Lynne Murray

Drexel University

HE500

“Group” Project

April 18, 2011

The purpose of studying the chronological history of Historical Black Colleges and

Universities (HBCU’s) is to briefly review the basis of the establishment of HBCU’s

and to illustrate the importance of these institutions to African-Americans. The

timeline for this study ranges from antebellum slavery (1600s) to the new

millennium. Various documents such as e-journals, books, and online resources

were used to locate pertinent information regarding our nation’s HBCU’s. The

timeline depicts vital events that explicates our nation’s historic events while

simultaneously correlating to the establishment of HBCU’s; in addition, disparities

regarding the need for HBCU’s will be conveyed. The findings will educate the

reader by presenting salutary answers to frequently asked questions concerning

HBCU’s.

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• John F. Kennedy stated, “All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us

should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent” (2011). During

antebellum Civil War, the African slave was forbidden to read or obtain

any form of education. Slaves were prohibited from receiving an

education. They was constantly frightened of becoming the victim of a

brutal whipping or tortured and lynched (if discovered that he or she

was able to read). However, after the slaves were emancipated in

1865, the proliferation of Black colleges and universities provided an

opportunity for the newly-freed African slave to receive an education.

• The Higher Education Act of 1965: In order for a college to be listed

as a Historical Black College and University, the college has to be 3

• The role of the Africans between 1619 and 1640 is unclear as to

whether or not they were brought to the American colony of

Jamestown, VA as indentured slaves or as free-labor slaves.

Virginia, 1639: The African slave was exempt from governmental

protection.

“By 1640, there was one African that was recorded as a free-labor

slave in the Virginia colony” (PBS); In 1650, 300 slaves were

reported.

1700s: Over one thousand slaves were kidnapped annually and

brought to the Virginia colony.

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• 1705: The Virginia General Assembly enacted a law that legally enslaved all servants

who were not Christians in their native country.

• The Slave Codes of 1705: Laws that governed a slave’s behavior because the white

settlers in the colonies were afraid of slave uprisings. The laws stripped slaves from

governmental protection, banned anyone from teaching slaves how to read or write,

and prohibited slaves from marriage.

• As the number of slaves increased in the new colonies in America, the laws governing

their behaviors increased.

1790: As reported in the U.S. Census, “3.9 million people were counted in

the first U.S. Census;” slaves were not included in the enumeration as they

were considered chattel; the U.S. Constitution of 1776 regarded slaves as

three-fifths of a man.

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• A number of slaveholders preferred their slaves to be educated; literate slaves could

serve as record keepers for the plantation.

• The slaves who were allowed to learn had a limited amount of time as their labor

demands diminished the amount of time available for learning.

• “House-slaves,” freed people of color, and often the children sired by the slaveholder

were typically the privileged ones to receive an education.

• South Carolina, 1743: Anglican ministers established and operated a school for slaves

for over twenty years. “For over twenty years the school offered instruction in Christian

religion and education under the guidance of a slave schoolmaster” (Sambol-Tosco

2004).

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• Contrary to the southern states, it was not illegal to educate slaves in the northern states.

Kimberly Sambol-Tosco wrote, “Quakers played an important part elevating literacy rates

among Northern blacks by rigorously promoting education programs in the years before and

after the Revolutionary War.”

HBCU’s in the Antebellum Years:

• The majority of HBCUs were established after the Civil War; however, the following three

universities were established twenty-six years before the end of the Civil War:

1. Cheyney University: Richard Humphrey’s, a Quaker philanthropist, founded the

Institute for Colored Youth to train free blacks to become teachers” (Coleman) in 1837.

The school was first located in Philadelphia then moved to Cheyney, Pennsylvania in

1902.

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2. Lincoln University: Ashmun Institute, “was "the first institution found anywhere in the

world to provide a higher education in the arts and sciences for male youth of African

descent"’ (Lincoln University). The school was chartered in 1854. In 1866, the Institute

changed its name to Lincoln University after Abraham Lincoln. The late honorable Justice

Thurgood Marshall, Langston Hughes and Kwame Nkrumah are graduates of Lincoln

University.

3. Wilberforce University: Wilberforce University was founded in 1856 by William

Wilberforce who was an abolitionist. The school’s financial status declined due to the

inception of the Civil War; as a result, the school closed in 1862. “Bishop Daniel A. Payne

of the African Methodist Episcopal Church negotiated to purchase the University's facilities”

(Wilberforce University); thus, Wilberforce reopened in 1863.

Cheyney, Lincoln and Wilberforce Universities are considered to be the nation’s first HBCU’s.

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• 1865 – 1870: Twenty-six HBCU’s opened.

• 1871 – 1900: Fifty-Two HBCU’s opened.

• 1901 – 1950: Twenty-Three HBCU’s opened.

• 1952 – 1975: Seven HBCU’s opened.

– Note: Although two of the schools were founded after 1964 (Southern University at Shreveport and Morehouse School of Medicine), the two universities are not legally considered HBCU’s because they were opened after 1964.

• Total HBCU’s by 1962:

• When HBCUs were first established, the newly freed slaves did not receive a post-secondary education. Contrary, the ex-slaves received an elementary and secondary education.

• By the early 1900s, the teachings at the HBCU’s evolved into a post-secondary instruction. Most of these schools provided a “teaching” education.

• Since African-Americans were barred from attending white institutions, the responsibility of teaching other African-Americans

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The Proliferation of HBCU’s

• W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington had two

extremely different philosophies on the type of education

for an African-American.

• DuBois firmly believed that Booker T. Washington’s

ideologies did not provide upward progression for African-

Americans. In addition, DuBois opposed Washington’s

principles as he believed that Washington’s theories

stifled African-American’s progress by remaining in the

south.

• DuBois believed that college-educated African-Americans

would help to advance the Black race by studying course

work on the liberal arts track and not vocational or

technical trades. He promoted the progression of the

most “talented tenth” African-Americans via an arts and

sciences education (Quick Tillery, 2003, p 10). 10

• 1862: The Morrill Land Grant Act donated public land for colleges to build schools

that were for agricultural and mechanical arts (Wennersten 1991). Mississippi’s

Alcorn State University was the first and only HBCU to receive this grant.

• 1890: Morrill Land Grant Act was revised by making federal funds available to the

newly freed slaves under the supposition of that the schools that were to be built

would also benefit African-Americans. According to the Morrill Land Grant Act, “These

1890 land-grant institutions would provide much needed public school instruction for

black children and train black teachers for the segregated public school systems in

the region” (Wennersten, 1991, p 54). As a result, sixteen land grant colleges were

established.

11

• Post Civil War: African-Americans faced violent opposition from southern whites

as the proliferation of HBCUs increased. African-Americans were subjected to

attending HBCU’s because they were prohibited from enrolling into the white

universities.

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

emphatically challenged the federal courts for equal rights in state facilities for

African-Americans during the 1930s.

• Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston who were lawyers for the NAACP

“argued that equal education was a constitutional right of black Americans and

essential to their legal equality and economic welfare” (Quick Tillery, 2004).

12

• The creation of the GI Bill enabled African-American war veterans the ability of

attending school after their military tour ended.

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was another federal decision that gave African-Americans

the opportunity to earn an education

• The Supreme Court’s decision of “separate but equal” opened doors for many African-

Americans to obtain a professional education.

Ten HBCU’s that opened during the Reconstruction Era and 1905closed its doors

between 1924 and 1988 for various financial reasons:

13

1. Guadalupe (& fire damage)

2. Mount Hermon Female

Seminary

3. Western University (Kansas)

4. Storer College

5. Kittrell College

6. Leland College (fire

damage)

7. Daniel Payne (& tornado

damage)

8. Friendship College

9. Mississippi Industrial College

10.Bishop College

• HBCU’s produce more African-American professional

graduates than predominately white colleges and

universities.

• 2011: HBCU’s are still considered to be an important

option for African-Americans. HBCU’s continue to be

a familial tradition in many households.

• The defense for larger, white institutions to receive

more money than a HBCU (and other smaller schools)

is that the sports activities and research programs of

the white institutions necessitate a larger budget.

• Myth: HBCU’s are segregated schools

Fact: HBCU’s are “predominately Black” schools; the

schools have a very diverse ethnic student body.

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• Myth: HBCU’s should no longer exist because they promote

segregation.

Fact: HBCU’s do not promote segregation. The percentage

of Private White Institution’s (PWI) African-American student

body is as low as HBCU’s Caucasian student body. HBCU’s

have never banned another race from enrolling in one of their

institutions. Whereas, PWI’s racially discriminated against

African-Americans from the Colonial Era until 1954 (Brown vs.

Board of Education).

•Graduation rates are higher for African-Americans that attend

a HBCU than those who attend a predominately white

institution. Robin White Goode (2011) writes, “In spite of the

nurturing HBCUs provide their students, their graduation rates

are lower (about 38%) than that of Black students who attend

traditionally White schools (about 46%).”

1607Jamestown

Settlement

Founded in

Virginia

Colony

1693College of

William &

Mary Opens

1764Rhode

Island

College

Opens

1754:King’s

College

Opens

1751

Philadelphia

Academy

Opens

1766Queen’s

College

Opens

1769Dartmouth

College

Opens

1746College

of New

Jersey

Opens

179

01st

U.S.

Cens

us

July 4,

1776

Declaration

of

Independen

ce Signed

1802The Ohio

Constitution

outlaws

slavery, but it

also prohibits

free blacks

from voting

1807Slave

Importation is

Banned in

America

1851: HBCU Univ. of District of

Columbia Opens

1854: HBCU Lincoln Univ.

Opens

1856: HBCU: Wilberforce Univ.

Opens

1857: HBCU Harris–Stowe

State Univ. Opens

1862: HBCU LeMoyne-Owen

College Opens

January 1, 1863Lincoln signs The

Emancipation

ProclamationJuly 2,

1964President

Lyndon

Johnson

signed The

Civil Rights

Act

1975

106

HBCU’s

are

Establish

1837•Martin Van Buren

is Inaugurated

•HBCU: Cheyney

Univ. Opens

1865 – 1870: 26 HBCU’s

Opened.

1865 – 1877: Reconstruction

Era

1867 – 1965: Jim Crow Era

(Segregation Laws)

1871 – 1900: 52 HBCU’s

Opened

May 17, 1896: Plessy vs.

Ferguson

1901 - 1950: 23 HBCU’s

Opened

1936 - 1988: 10 HBCU’s

Closed

1952 - 1962: 5 HBCU’s

Opened

1954 – 1968: Civil Rights

Movement

February 1st, 1960: 4 NC A&T

University Students launch the

Sit-In Movement in

January 20, 2008President Obama is

the first African-

American to be

inaugurated as

President of the

United States

2010President Obama

Increases Funding for

HBCUs ($98 Million for

FY 2011)February 26, 2010President Obama

Renews White House

Initiative on HBCU's

(Video)

1636Harvar

d

Colleg

e

Opens

1640Virginia

Colony:

1st African

Declared as

Free-Labor

Slave

1650•Beginning of

the Trans-

Atlantic Slave

Trade (African

Diaspora)

•300 Slaves

Reported in

Virginia Colony

1700Forced

Migration

of African

Slaves

(Over

1,0000

per year)

1701Yale

College

Opens

1705Slave

Codes

Enacted1743-1763South

Carolina:

Anglican

Ministers

taught slaves

in a school. 1834

South

Carolina bans

the teaching of

enslaved &

free black

people.

1815

Abolitionist Levi

Coffin (also

affiliated with

Guilford College)

establishes the

Underground

Railroad.

ReferencesAbout Lincoln. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2011, from Lincoln University of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website:

http://www.lincoln.edu/about.html

About WU-History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2011, from Wilberforce University website: http://www.wilberforce.edu/welcome/history.html

Burnsed, J. (2010, December 23). More HBCUs Offer Online Degrees. U.S. Education, Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2010/12/23/more-hbcus-offer-online-degrees

Census of Population and Housing 1790 Census. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2011, from U.S. Census Bureau website: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/1790.html

Coleman, D. C. (2011). The History of Historically Black Colleges & Universites. Retrieved April 12, 2011, from HBCUConnect.com website: http://hbcuconnect.com/history.shtml

Fact Finder for the Nation, History and Organization (CFF-4). (2000, May). Retrieved from U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau website: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/1790.html

From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2011, from PBS Online website: hhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3.html

Fuke, R. P. (1999). Imperfect Equality: African Americans and the Confines of White Ideology in Post-Emancipation Maryland. In P. Cimbala (Ed.), Planters, Apprenticeship, and Forced Labor: The Black Family Under Pressure in Post-emancipation Maryland (62 ed., Vol. 4, pp. 57-74). Agricultural History: Agricultural History. (Reprinted from The Freedmen's Bureau and Reconstruction Reconstructing America (Series) , Vol. 4, p. 288, by P. Cimbala & R. Miller, Eds., 1999, New York, NY: Fordham University Press)Jim Crow Entrenched: Unequal Funding of State-Operated Colleges in the South. (2002, Spring). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 35, 8-10. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3133810

John F. Kennedy Quotations. (2007). Retrieved April 13, 2011, from Light a Fire: Education Quotes website: http://www.lightafire.com/quotations/authors/john-f-kennedy/

List of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. (2006). Retrieved April 11, 2011, from EDU, Inc website: http://www.eduinconline.com/HBCUs.html

People & Events, Virginia Recognizes Slavery ,1661 - 1663. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2011, from PBS Online website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p262.html

Quick Tillery, C. (2003). Celebrating Our Equality. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corporation.

Sambol-Tosco , K. (2004). Slavery and the Making of America, Education, Arts, & Culture. Retrieved April 12, 2011, from UNC-TV PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/history2.html

Smith, L. M. (2010, March). Obama Signs Order Boosting HBCU Funding. Black Enterprise, 54-62. Retrieved from http://www.blackenterprise.com/2010/03/01/obama-signs-order-boosting-hbcu-funding/

Strauss, V. (2010, November 26). Report on college attendance crisis for black males exaggerated. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/achievement-gap/report-on-college-attendance-c.html

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ReferencesWhite Goode, R. (2011, February 15). The HBCU Debate: Are Black Colleges & Universities Still Needed? Black

Enterprise, Retrieved from http://www.blackenterprise.com/2011/02/15/are-hbcus-still-relevant/

White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. (2010, July 8). Retrieved April 13, 2011, from

U.S. Department of Education website: http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whhbcu/edlite-index.html

Who We Are, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) ~ An Historical Overview. (1998). Retrieved April 16,

2011, from United Negro College Fund, Inc. website: http://www.uncf.org/aboutus/hbcus.asp

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