Wilberforce University: The Early Years Emil L. Cunningham. The History Of American Higher Education. The Pennsylvania State University

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1 Wilberforce University1 Running head: WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY Wilberforce University: The Early Years Emil L. Cunningham The History Of American Higher Education The Pennsylvania State University

2 Wilberforce University2 The history of Wilberforce University (Wilberforce) starts not with their founding but with what was occurring in the American society prior to its founding. In the years preceding the founding of Wilberforce, the state of Ohio was a free state that bordered Kentucky, which was conversely a slave state. During this time in Ohio, Black Laws ran rampant and controlled the ways in which Blacks were allowed to participate in society (Woodson, 1916). The Black Laws did more than just limit the participation of Blacks in government, they severely disadvantaged the educational and economic growth of Blacks in Ohio as well (McGinnis, 1962). In 1838 specific regulations were enacted to exclude the education of young Blacks in schools sponsored by the state (Woodson, 1916). For free Blacks during the pre-civil war era, education was a highly debated topic. Though there were some higher education institutions in Ohio that permitted Black attendance, such as Oberlin College, integrated education was not overwhelmingly welcomed (McGinnis, 1962). During this time, one particular organization against the education of free Blacks was the American Colonization Society (ACS) (McGinnis, 1962). While the ACS was founded in 1817 and is historically noted as being designed to help end slavery (American Colonization Society, 2010), it had members who often articulated ulterior motives. In an 1813 address given by Cyrus Edwards, a presumed member of the ACS, McGinnis (1962) cites Edwards as he proclaims: Do we not all regard this mixed an intermediate population of free blacks, made up of slaves or their immediate descendents, as a growing evil, exerting a dangerous and baneful influence on all around them?...no matter what their attainments in literature, science or the arts they can never, no never be raised to a footing of equality, not even to a familiar intercourse with the surrounding society. (p. 16)

3 Wilberforce University3 The ACS was a hodgepodge group of people ranging from abolitionists to slave owners who believed that Blacks could never truly be free in America and therefore needed to return back to Africa (American Colonization Society, 2010). Though this idea proved to arouse a large amount of support at the time, the American Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1833, fought not only for the freedom of slaves, but as well as for the education of free Blacks so that they might fully be incorporated into the American society (American Anti-Slavery Society, 2010; McGinnis, 1962). Lastly, the most influential federal policy of the pre-wilberforce era was the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave act of 1850 legalized the apprehension of runaway slaves in free states and their return to slavery in southern states (p.95, Slater, 1995). It is important to understand the bravery it took for the founders of Wilberforce to establish an institution of higher education devoted to the explicit education of Black students. It would have been quite possible that some students at Wilberforce may have been runaway slaves seeking an education and may have to face the repercussions of returning back to slavery, if caught. Wilberforce was founded on August 30, 1856 by the Methodist Episcopal Church (McGinnis, 1962). It was the first private Black university in America. The original article of association, as reproduced by McGinnis (1962), reads [k]now all men by these presents; that we the undersigned desirous of establishing a University in the State of Ohio, for the purposes of promoting education, religion and morality amongst the Colored race, do make and establish these articles of association (p.92). The institution was named after William Wilberforce (W. Wilberforce) who was a prominent 18th century British abolitionist (Baker, 1970). W. Wilberforce ( ) sought to prove that the Africans, who comprised the majority of the slaves in the slave trade, were not an inferior race and challenged the thought process of many of the British (Baker, 1970). In a biography on W. Wilberforce, Baker (1970) writes about how W.

4 Wilberforce University4 Wilberforce challenged the ideology of slavery by displaying examples of their [slaves ] handiwork and gave the testimony of two men who engaged in the slave trade but nevertheless admitted that one-fourth to one-fifth of the Negroes on their slave ships could read and write (p. 438). The very early history of Wilberforce is not truly known. It is well documented that Richard Rust was the original chair of the board of trustees in 1856, and that in 1858 he was appointed President of the institution (Wilberforce, 2010a). The students who attended this rendition of Wilberforce were primarily children of southern planters (Joiner, 1915). Though the specific number of students who attended Wilberforce during this time is unknown, the enrollment is estimated to have varied from seventy to one hundred (Joiner, 1915). Nonetheless, aside from some brief claims that the institution was a success, the majority of the student and institutional history is quiet from the institution s original founding to 1862 (Wilberforce, 2010b). In 1862, Wilberforce began to encounter serious financial problems (Goggins, 1987). As a result of the civil war, students were not matriculating to Wilberforce and the institution had to close its doors in June of 1862 (Goggins, 1987). A $10,000 debt incurred by the institution forced the board of trustees and the Methodist Episcopal Church to consider selling the land to the government for use as an asylum, however, Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne (Payne) had other ideas for Wilberforce (Goggins, 1987). Being part of the original association that helped to establish Wilberforce, Payne offered to buy Wilberforce, without any permission, authority, or even funding under the auspice of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, for the amount of the debt owed (Goggins, 1987). At the time, the AME Church sponsored a seminary

5 Wilberforce University5 elsewhere in Ohio, and Payne wanted to facilitate the seminary s move to the Wilberforce University site (McGinnis, 1962; Goggins, 1987). Through the vision of Payne, the AME Church became the new found owners of Wilberforce University and issued their article of association on July 10, In his pivotal role in acquiring the institution, Payne was also named President of the university, becoming the first ever African American president of a university (Joiner, 1915; Wilberforce University, 2010). With the control of the institution now in the possession of the AME Church, the Union seminary, which the AME Church had previously spent their efforts on, moved and became one with the institution (Goggins, 1987). The campus culture soon began to take on the image of a traditionally denominational institution, and as Payne assumed reigns of the presidency, he established four principles by which he hoped to see the school governed itself under (Goggins, 1987). In a book detailing the early history of Wilberforce, Goggins (1987) outlines the original four principles: (1) the institution was to be dedicated to a broad preparatory and collegiate liberal arts curriculum with a heavy emphasis on religious training; (2) students and faculty were expected to conduct themselves with iron discipline and religious piety; (3) neither racial nor sexual discrimination was to be allowed in admissions or hiring; and (4) in order to keep the institution free of sectarianism, all evangelical churches were to be represented on the board of trustees. (p. 2) Over the course of Payne s thirteen year presidency, it is arguable as to whether he was able to accomplish any of these principles. Goggins (1987) notes that in 1873 nine-tenths of the board of trustees were members of the AME Church, indicating that his hope to ensure all evangelical churches would be represented failed. Secondly, on April 15, 1865, the same day

6 Wilberforce University6 President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the main building on Wilberforce s campus was set ablaze by arsonists (Wilberforce, 2010a). Fortunately, there were no accounts of students, faculty, or staff being injured, as most of the campus was in a nearby county celebrating the fall of the confederacy (Goggins, 1987). While there are not many historical accounts of this incident that cite who the perpetrators were, Payne interestingly and outwardly addresses who they were and why they committed this heinous act. Payne in his book, A Treatise On Domestic Education (1885), wrote that two women for repeated acts of insubordination, [were] punished by the lady principal and matron with solitary confinement for two or three days. This kind of discipline was revenged by them in setting the central building on fire (p. 101). It can go without saying that Payne s attempt at ensuring that students conducted themselves with discipline and piety did not go over so well. However unsuccessful Payne was at ensuring Wilberforce abided by his four principles, he did a great deal to provide a solid foundation for the institution. Over the course of his presidency, the Theological department was established in 1865, the Classical and Scientific in 1867, the Normal in 1872, and the Military in [1894] (p. 43, Joiner, 1915). At the end of Payne s tenure as president in 1876, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that students were enrolled in all of these departments including medicine, law, and philosophy (McGinnis, 1962). One might say that Payne had a vision of a multi-purpose college (MPC) as he helped establish the institution. Aside from providing a classical course of instruction, Geiger (2000) notes that a MPC would have other courses such as science, language, and even preparatory courses as well. All of these courses were evident at Wilberforce at the time. Geiger (2000) also notes that usually the most observable way to determine whether an institution is a MPC is to

7 Wilberforce University7 look at whether the institution is coeducational in nature. At this time, Wilberforce had the liberal thinking of coeducational institution as well. Payne was an influential figure in Wilberforce and due to his charisma, was able to manage the institution and sustain a lot of support (Gerber, 1976). Unfortunately, his successors were not as charismatic, and as such, the institution began to find itself in financial problems once again (Gerber, 1976). In this aspect, Wilberforce was quite uncharacteristic of a MPC, due to the fact that it had to rely heavily on the AME church for its funding (Goggins, 1987). This left the institution with a meager endowment and very little funds (Gerber, 1976). This economic problem was so severe, that in 1884 Wilberforce was over $9,000 in debt, and employees were owed over $2,000 in back salary (Goggins, 1987). At this point, Wilberforce was on the brink of closing until another one of its presidents became its savior (Goggins, 1987). President Samuel T. Mitchell (Mitchell) would become Wilberforce s knight in shining armor (Gerber, 1976). Over the course of his sixteen year presidency, Mitchell accomplished a lot (Joiner, 1915). During his early years he was influential in ensuring the future financial success of the institution. Through his collaboration with others, he successfully helped appoint Reverend Benjamin Arnett (Arnett) to office in the Ohio legislature (Goggins, 1987). This election proved to be pivotal as Arnett became the key factor in acquiring government funding (Gerber, 1976). Arnett helped push through the legislature a motion that joined Wilberforce, a private denominational institution, with the state government (Gerber, 1976). In March of 1887, the state of Ohio agreed to finance a Combined Normal and Industrial Department at Wilberforce University (p. 5, Goggins, 1987). This negotiation with Wilberforce afforded the institution $5,000 for the first two years and agreed that every year afterwards the board of trustees, designed specifically for this department, would reconvene annually to

8 Wilberforce University8 determine the amount of aid needed (Gerber, 1976).The government was quite intentional in their design in establishing this department at Wilberforce. In order to ensure that a majority of the power remained in the hands of the public and not in the hands of Wilberforce, the state government required that a separate board of trustees be created and that five of the nine positions be appointed by the governor (Gerber, 1976). In addition, to ensure public support for this venture, the legislature allowed for a representative from each of the eighty-eight counties to send a student to the Combined Normal and Industrial Department at Wilberforce free of charge (Goggins, 1987). This aspect of the institution would carry on for more than half a century before breaking off from Wilberforce and becoming its own separate entity Though the history of Wilberforce continues as the institution transitioned into the twentieth century, the early years prove to be the most interesting. Wilberforce as an institution accomplished many firsts, both in Ohio and the country. Though it was not the first institution in Ohio to provide education to free Blacks, it was the first to promote education exclusively and privately. Wilberforce was the first institution to house the first Black University President in America, and lastly it was the first to procure public funding for a private institution. Wilberforce has survived through multiple major wars in America s history and still stands today true to the mission in which it was established. The only question that remains for Wilberforce is how it will choose to make its mark on society in the future.

9 Wilberforce University9 References (2010). American Anti-Slavery Society. Retrieved November 13, 2010 from Society (2010). American Colonization Society. Retrieved November 11, 2010 from (2010). Wilberforce University. Retrieved November 11, 2010 from (2010a). About The Library. Retrieved November 12, 2010 from (2010b). History. Retrieved November 11, 2010 from Baker, W. (1970). William Wilberforce on the idea of negro inferiority. Journal Of The History Of Ideas, 31, Geiger. R. (2000). The era of multipurpose colleges in American higher education, In R. Geiger (Ed.), The American College In The Nineteenth Century (pp ). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press Gerbar, G. A. (1976). Segregation, separatism, and sectarianism: Ohio Blacks and Wilberforce university s effort to obtain federal funds, The Journal Of Negro Education, 45, Goggins, L. (1987). Central State University: The First One Hundred Years, Wilberforce, OH: Central State University Joiner, W. W. (1915). A Half Century Of Freedom Of The Negro In Ohio. Xenia, OH: Smith

10 Wilberforce University10 Adv. Co. McGinnis, F. A. (1962). The Education Of Negroes In Ohio. Blanchester, OH: Curless Printing Company Payne, D. A. (1971). A Treatise On Domestic Education. Cincinnati, OH: Cranston & Stowe Slater, R. B. (1995). The American colleges that led the abolition movement. The Journal Of Blacks In Higher Education, 9, Woodson, C. G. (1916). The negroes of Cincinnati prior to the civil war. The Journal of Negro History, 1, 1-22.