March 2 …
Howard University — founded in the wake of the Civil War to educate newly freed people and advance Black leadership — has been a central institution in American higher education, civil rights, and culture since the 19th century.
Established on March 2, 1867 via chartered by the U.S. Congress, the university was significantly influenced by General Oliver Otis Howard, its founder and early leader, alongside members of Washington, DC’s First Congregational Church and Reconstruction-era reformers. The Freedmen’s Bureau and Radical Republican policymakers provided vital early financial and political support.
Opening its doors to students in 1867, the university quickly incorporated professional schools in law, medicine, theology, and later arts and sciences. The school navigated challenges of funding, campus development, and accreditation under various presidents and trustees.
From its inception, Howard’s mission combined liberal education with professional training and public service. It aimed to educate youth in the liberal arts and sciences, train teachers and practitioners for professions historically denied to Black Americans, and cultivate civic leadership that would promote social justice and equality.
The university was influenced by the ideals of Reconstruction, the activism of early Black intellectuals and clergy who served on boards and faculties, and the urgent need to prepare graduates to serve Black communities during times of segregation and disenfranchisement. Even then, Howard has remained committed to its foundational goals.
Key stakeholders in Howard’s journey have included its founders, successive presidents, faculty, students, alumni, Congress, and federal agencies, particularly the early support from the Freedmen’s Bureau. The District of Columbia community, philanthropic partners, and various civil rights organizations have also played crucial roles.
The primary beneficiaries have been generations of African American students who have gone on to excel in law, medicine, education, government, the arts, and social movements. Howard’s campus emerged as a national center for Black intellectual life, producing influential scholars, activists, judges, elected officials, entertainers, and executives who have left a lasting impact on American public life.
Howard University’s honors and accolades underscore its national significance. It has produced a substantial number of African American professionals in various fields, along with numerous Rhodes Scholars, MacArthur fellows, and Fulbright recipients among its alumni and faculty. Its schools — including law, medicine, communications, social work, and arts and sciences — have gained accreditation and high esteem.
Notable alumni of Howard include:
- Kamala Harris — First African American and first woman Vice President of the United States
- Thurgood Marshall — First African American United States Supreme Court Justice
- Andrew Young — First African American United States Ambassador to the United Nations
- David Dinkins — 107th mayor of New York City
- Toni Morrison — Novelist and editor
- Zora Neale Hurston — Author, anthropologist, and filmmaker
- Paul Laurence Dunbar — Poet and novelist
Howard University has been consistently recognized for its leadership in Black higher education and civil rights scholarship, attesting to its enduring influence on American education, social justice, culture, and history.
