High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 22 text:
“
In the beginning... General Oliver Oris Howard Howard University, located in the Nation's Capital, was conceived in a prayer meeting of the First Congregational Church of Washington, D. C. The idea which cave birth to Howard University grew out of the Monthly Concert of Prayer for Missions, which was held in the First Congregational Church. November 19. 1866. On the following evening, ten persons assembled at the home of H A. Brewster and decided unanimously to establish an educational institution, in view of the pressing demand of the southern field, according to the words of the resolution which was passed Action was taken at the meeting giving the school the designation of the Howard Theological Seminary, after General Oliver Otis Howard, who had been active in the organi7ation of the project General Howard personally protested having the honor accorded him. but accepted it reluctantly when the others present insisted upon using his name for the new institution At a meeting on January 8. 1867. the name of the school was changed to Howard University. Oliver Otis Howard, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, was appointed colonel of a Maine Regiment in 1861. After service which distinguished him at Bull Run, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Following his services at Fair Oaks and Antietam he was promoted to the rank of major general. He was assigned to the command of an army corps in the Army of the Cumberland and then to the command of the Army of the Tennessee. He accompanied General Sherman on his march to the sea and was present at the surrender of General Johnston near Durham. North Carolina, in 1865 He w as appointed commissioner of the I’rccdmcn's Bureau in 1865 and remained in this office until 1874. It was while serving in this capacity that he began his interest in a university for the Negro population He was regarded by a contemporary as the American Philanthropist, the Commissioner of the Frccdmen’s Bureau, the true tnend of the downtrodden and oppressed of every color and nation of the earth ' General Howard was the third president of Howard University. During February, 1867, the organization of the University was carried rapidly forward, and plans were made for the application for a charter from the Congress of the United States. The first draft of the application. presented January 26. 1867, was amended on February 6; and, having passed the Senate and House of Representatives of the Thirty-ninth Congress, it was approved by President Andrew Johnson on March 2, 1867. The anniversary of this day is annually observed at the University as Charter Day. The act to incorporate Howard University declared that there be established and is hereby established in the District of Columbia, a university for the education of youth m the liberjI arts and sciences under the name, style, and title of The Howard University. The incorporators included Samuel C. Pomeroy. Charles B. Boynton. Oliver O. Howard. Burton C. Cook, Charles H Howard, James B. Hutchinson. Henry A. Brewster, Benjamin F Morris, Danforth B. Nichols, William G. Finney. Roswell H. Stephen, I M Cushman. Hiram Barber. F. W. Robinson, W F Bascom. James B. Johns ton. and Silas L I.oomis. They were declared a body politic and corporate with perpetual succession in deed or m law to all intents and purposes whatever by the name, style, and title of The Howard University. The charter also authorized rhe establishment of the Normal and Preparatory. Collegiate. Theological. Medical. Law. and Agricultural Departments On May 1, 1867, the Normal jrul Preparatory Department opened with four white girls as students, children of Trustees, in a leased frame structure on the cast side of Georgia Avenue below V Street. The Reverend I’dward F William a graduate of Yale College and Princeton Theological Seminary, was appointed principal. The school steadily increased hi enrollment, so that by the close of the first term the number had grown to ninety-four. Shortly after the opening of the school, the incorpo rators negotiated the purchase of ISO acres of the land, which included the present vile of the University. The greater portion of the money for this purchase was obtained through the judicious sale of huilding lots and through funds of the Federal Government, under the authorization of General Howard. The first Catalogue of 1867 described the new undertaking from its physical appearances as follows: Upon the crow ning summit of the heights overlooking the City and surrounding country, in plain view of the Washington public buildings, the University buildings arc being erected, which, when finished, will he an ornament to the Capital While the principal difficulty of the University in this early period was a financial one. the University's annual report of 1868 1869 stated that the financial conditions of the University were satisfactory and that the buildings and grounds were free of
”
Page 23 text:
“
debt On March 3. 1K79. the Congress made an appropriation of $10,000 for the support of the University. Since that time, the Congress has made continuous and increasing appropriations to the University, being more and more confirmed in the conviction that it was thereby rendering a greatly needed service to the colored people in ways not otherwise provided for. Until the year 1928, these appropriations were made in the form of voted gratuities, without the support of j substantive law. In 1928, annual appropriations for the University were authorized by an act of Congress, amending the Act of Incorporation of March 2, 1867, for the purpose of aiding in the construction, development, im provement and maintenance of the University. Instruction in the Tlicological Department was begun on January 6. 1868. The Collegiate Department began its work on September 21, 1868. On April 12, 1868, the organization of the Medical Department was authorized. The Department was to consist of a medical school, a pharmaceutical school, and a general hospital. The Law Department was organized on October 12. 1868. and was formally opened on January 6. 1869. The University thus made its beginning in several schools of its proposed work. Within five years after the first students were admitted to the academic classes, Howard University was composed of the following schools which were in actual operation: Normal and Preparatory, Musical, Theological, Military, Industrial. Commercial. College, Law, and Medicine. The development of the University was furthered in the establishment of the Dental School in 1882. By 1910, the School of Manual Arts and Applied Sciences was established, in 1919 it was reorganized as the College of Applied Sciences. In 1934 it became the School of Engineering and Architecture Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson was the first Negro to be elected president. Howard LViiversity, under his admin istration, experiended growth and development both physical and scholastical. Every school and college was completely reorganized and placed in the command of eminent scholars During this period there was a substantial increase in scholarly publications, including books, monographs, such as poetry and paintings by the faculty. Three of the most influential journals in American education were founded and arc published regularly by Howard University They are The Journal of Negro Education, The Journal of Religious Thought and the Howard Law Review. From this early beginning of basic training for re cently-frccd persons, the University has expanded to the place where its faculty of approximately 700 teachers offers training to more than 7,000 students of many races, creeds, and nationalities. Each of its 10 schools anJ colleges is accredited by the highest rating association in America. During the 1961-1962 school year, Howard students came from 43 states, the District of Columbia, territories of the United States, and 37 foreign countries They arc enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts, College of Pharmacy, College of Medicine. School of Religion. School of Law. College of Dentistry. School of Engineering and Architecture. College of Fine Arts. The Graduate School, and the School of Social Work. Since its establishment in 1867, the Howard University has graduated 22.433 persons The large majority of these graduates have been Negroes. In every population center in the United States, they constitute the largest and most diversified group of trained Negroes related to a single institution in the world. The largest number of graduates have entered the field of teaching, primarily in tlxr southern states. The 1961-1962 Federal appropriation was $7,000. The physical facilities now consist of 43 buildings, most of which are among the most beautiful and most functional in the country. Scholastically, Howard University has been able to attract many top scholars to its facilities. In addition, through a program which stresses academic growth, many of its teachers have made outstanding contributions in their fields since joining the faculties. In the College of Liberal Arts, for example. 47.4 per cent of the entire faculty (full and part time) hold a doctorate. Through its nationwide program of counseling and recruitment Howard has been able to attract a higher caliber student body, and the quality of its student's work is known throughout the world. Evidence of this is seen in the fact that 23 national honor societies, including Phi Beta Kappa Sigma XI have established chapters at Howard University. In April of 1961. Dr James Madison Nabrit, Jr. was inaugurated as the fourteenth president of the University’. In his first address to students and faculty, he called for a comprehensive program of self-examination. Our goal. according to Dr. Nabrit. is to make Howard University a really outstanding university on the basis of recognized value standards and educational criteria. One of the most cosmopolitan institutions of higher learning in the United States, the University includes among its trustees, administrators, faculties, and student body, persons of nearly every major race, religion, and nationality, it has always been open to all races, and both sexes. Started originally as a local institution designed to meet a critical need of the newly-freed Negro people, Howard University is today both national and international in the scope of its work, its student body, and its influence. Magazine writer Milton Viorst writing an article in Harpers, 1962 entitled Howard University — Cam pus and Cause. saw the leadership role of the school. He cited the number of Howard graduates who have gone on to be leading citizens of the world. Viorst and others have chronicled the importance of the University in the campaign for civil rights. Such programs as the Liberal Arts Student Council's Project Awareness series and the Cultural Senes arc indicative of the forward progress and leadership role that Howard exerts on its Community. now, Howardites strive •19 • • •
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
