Way Black History Fact - The History of HBCUs

Our Way Black History Fact covers the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Right now it is time for the Way Black History Fact,
and for today's Way Black History Fact, We're going to discuss.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
The history of HBCUs.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
For folks that are unfamiliar, HBCU stands for historically Black
college and university. And if you only get your news
from Fox News, you might be thinking, why do they
have those?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, we're about to explain it to you. All right.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
This comes from Thurgood Marshall College Funds website and if
you want to check it out, it's TMCF dot org.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
We've deemed that to be a reputable source.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
So historically, Black colleges and universities or HBCUs were established
in the United States early in the nineteenth century to
provide undergraduate and graduate level education opportunities to.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
People of African descent.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Black students were unwelcome at existing public and private uni
institutions of higher education even after passing specific legislation, resulting
in a lack of higher education opportunities. Got a bear
in mind resegregation at the time, and you need black
doctors and white doctors, right, and black doctors can't go
to the white schools.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
They need to make their own schools. So this is
kind of the origin story here all right.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
In seventeen ninety nine, Washington Lee University admitted John Javis,
who was noted as the first African American on record
to attend college. However, the first African American to have
earned a bachelor's degree from an American university, Alexander Lucia's Twilight,
graduated from Middlesbury College in eighteen twenty three. Three decades later,
Mary Jane Patterson was the first African American woman to

(01:23):
earn a bachelor's degree, graduating from the abolitionist centered Oberlin
College in eighteen sixty two. These individuals were singular in
accessing higher education. Richard Humphries established the African Institute in Pennsylvania,
making it the oldest HBCU.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
In the United States. It's now called Cheney University.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Its mission was to teach free African American skills for
gainful employment. Students were taught reading, writing, and basic math,
alongside religion and industrial arts. During the eighteen fifties, three
more HBCUs were founded Minor Normal School in eighteen fifty
one in Washington, d C. Lincoln University in eighteen fifty
four in Pennsylvania, and Wilberforce In eighteen fifty six in Ohigh,
the Ame Church established Wilberfirst University, the first HBCU operated

(02:05):
by African Americans. The provision of education for people of
African descent and early America was recognized by some as
unnecessary and criminal, while others saw it as essential and vital.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Sound familiar all right.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
The majority of HBCUs originated from eighteen sixty five to
nineteen hundred, with the greatest number of HBUs started in
eighteen sixty seven, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and
approximately eighty nine percent of all HBCUs are in the
southern region of the United States, although they can be
found in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and

(02:39):
West Virginia. North Carolina hosts eleven HBCUs, Louisiana has seven,
and Alabama has twelve. While many consider HBCUs to be
a homogeneous group, there are levels of diversity within this
unique classification of institutions, not only by academic distinction and
socioeconomic status, but also in student demographics. In addition, HBCUs
have diverse classifications public, private, denominational, liberal arts, land grant

(03:03):
independent university system, single gender serving research based large and small,
with enrollment numbers that range from less than three hundred
to over eleven thousand students.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
And the reason we wanted.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
To share this one, of course, is because it's consistent
with our guests and their plight, but also so that
you understand that education is not, nor has it been
the same for people around the country, and for those
of you who count yourselves allies that may not have
had anyone explain why things.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Look a little different.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
You know, there's a lot of factors that go into
education that are unique, that manifest in education before they
manifest in the workforce or and you know, other types
of data, and there is indeed an origin story that
you may not be aware of, and so we wanted
to make sure to illuminate this. Of course, there's more
research for you to do, and we invite you to

(03:57):
do that at your leisure, but hopefully we've given you
a starting point