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Historical Paper Georgia Marie Jarra 1
Historical Paper Georgia Marie Jarra 1
Historical Analysis
Marie Jarra
EDLD 7432
1
Historical Analysis
Introduction
Its hard to imagine that a few decades ago African Americans were fighting for the right to get
an education. Much growth has been made over the past years as it relates to diversity,
warranting that all Americans no matter what race, gender, or sex have the opportunity to receive
equal opportunity in higher education. Before the end of the civil war there were only less than a
handful of colleges in the United Stated for the advancement of black people. After the Civil
War the nation began to see the emergent of the black colleges. In Georgia alone, there are 10
colleges that are considered historically black colleges (HBCU). This analysis will focus on the
History
Pre-Civil war legislation that was passed made it illegal to teach slaves how to read and write
which made it hard to establish any form of education institutes for blacks. Cheyney University
was founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth in Pennsylvania, it is known as the first
institution of higher learning for African Americans. It was founded by a Quaker philanthropist,
who donated $10,000, one tenth of his estate, to design and establish a school to educate the
descendants of the African race. This marked the beginning of the idea to create universities to
In post-civil war Georgia, whites discouraged literacy for the black community, but by the end of
the first year after the abolishment of slavery at least 8,000 former slaves were attending schools
in Georgia. Free men of the north aided organizations to begin establishing schools in the south.
As the institutions began to grow the idea that education as a key to freedom and success began
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Historical Analysis
to settle in the minds of former slaves. Blacks adopted the concept that education would uplift
the race (Perkins, 1978). In 1865 in Georgia, Atlanta University and Clark College Heritage was
established to accommodate African American students. In 1865 Clark Atlanta University was
formed by the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College. Clark was founded by the
Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church that later became the United
Methodist Church. The school was named for Bishop Davis W. Clark, the first president of the
Freedman's Aid Society. By the late 1870s the university had begun granting bachelor's degrees
to its students. Clark eventually became a research university and was classified by the Carnegie
Morehouse College was founded in 1867 two years after the civil war. It was originally founded,
as Augusta Institute in the basement of Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta GA. Originally the
purpose was to prepare black men for ministry and teaching. The college later moved to Atlanta
and students were attending class in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church. In the 1880s
John D. Rockefeller donated land in Atlanta were the present location is for the mens college. In
1913 the institution received a name change to Morehouse College under the leadership of the
colleges first African American president, John Hope. Students at Morehouse learn to personify
a set of characteristics known as the Morehouse Mystique, which consisted of five tenets to
uphold (1) academic excellence, (2) the elocutionary arts, (3) high moral values, (4) social
commitment, and (5) the belief in a higher power (Brawley, 1917). As a private historically black
college for men Morehouse offers twenty-six majors in three academic divisions: Business
Administration and Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Mathematics.
The school has showed tremendous growth from the time of Reconstruction and has produced
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Historical Analysis
three Rhodes, five Fulbright, and five Marshall Scholars. Its distinguished alumni include Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader, and also Maynard
Other traditionally African American schools in Georgia include Spelman College, originally
founded in 1881 as a college for African American women. It started its focus of studies on
teacher training, and eventually initiated a nursing program. Spelman now offers 26 majors and
25 minors as a private institution, and students can also register with any of the five partner
institutions in the Atlanta University Center, including Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta
University. Savannah State University is another institution considered as historically black that
was founded in Georgia. It is the oldest public historically black college in the state, originally
Post-civil war and the abolishment of slavery did not mean that African Americans had equal
rights in America. The second Morrill Act in 1890 was directed at southern confederate states
and gave support for higher education for black students. The act required each state to show
that race was not an admissions criterion, or else the state would have to designate a separate
land-grant institution for persons of color (Johnson, 1981). Several of Georgias black colleges
emerged from the second Morrill Act like Savannah State University, which at the time offered
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Historical Analysis
In the 1896 the supreme courts decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson established a separate
but equal code in public education. This included educational facilities where the resources and
institutions had to be equal for both whites and black, but it could also be separate. This
decision was hardly equal by any standards, where white students were given the best of
education and all it had to offer, black students were given the bare minimum. In Georgia black
college students in Atlanta staged sit-ins to force the desegregation of education facilities. In
1941 Eugene Talmadge triggered nationwide uproar by discharging three educators in the state
of Georgia university system that were alleged to have advocated racial equality in the schools.
The state university system lost its accreditation for a time as a result of Talmadge's action; it
In 1954 Brown v. Board of Education overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. It declared that separate
but equal educational facilities are unconstitutional. After the ruling many white Georgians
were still opposed to integration. In many cases in Georgia, white established institutions we still
denying admissions to black students. In the case of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter in
1961 after several attempts to get admittance into the University of Georgia they were repeatedly
denied. With the help of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), a campaign was launched for desegregation of southern colleges and universities.
Soon after U.S. District Court Judge William Bootle ordered the admission of Hamilton Holmes
and Charlayne Hunter to UGA. Other white established colleges such as Georgia Tech, and
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Historical Analysis
These days the challenges for African American students to get a higher education in Georgia is
no longer the issue of race but rather the issues of funding. Georgias higher education systems
have come a long way in the past years since the times of separate but equal. Shortly after
Brown v. Board of Education decision congress passed Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
which prohibited discrimination against anyone because of their race, color, or national origin in
programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. This act did not fix the issue of
segregation and discrimination overnight in Georgia, however it sparked and change and allowed
black students in the state who needed federal assistance to have access to it. In Georgia one of
the aids that gave many black students an opportunity to pursue higher education is the HOPE
scholarship. It was created in 1993 by Georgia Governor Zell Miller to reward students with
financial assistance in degree, diploma, and certificate programs at eligible Georgia public,
private colleges and universities, and public technical colleges. The money would be funded by
revenue from the Georgia Lottery and is administered by the Georgia Student Finance
Commission (GSFC).
Conclusion
The African American student in Georgia has faced many obstacles in the past centuries.
Although the harsh challenges are mostly matters of the past, there are still challenges that the
black student faces every day in Georgia and the U.S. Nowadays the ability to afford a higher
education is the impediment to overcome. With a lot black students growing up in urban low
income neighborhoods, where the resources are not available the opportunity for many are
limited, there are a lot of scholarships and aids available specifically to black students. However
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Historical Analysis
if generations after generations dont have the tools to obtain those aids it would be rigid for
them to educate their youths on how to attain these scholarships. Poverty is a big part of the
black community, but without education one will continue to drown in it. There is however still
hope for the African American student especially in Georgia. With colleges like Georgia State
University which continue to lead the nation in graduating minority students, ranking No.1 in the
students. This shows that Georgias Higher education system has not only evolved throughout
the centuries but also exceeded with the improvement of African American student.
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Historical Analysis
References
Brawley, B. G. (1917). History of Morehouse College: Written on the Authority of the Board of Trustees .
http://www.morehouse.edu. Retrieved from http://www.blackpast.org/aah/morehouse-
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Diractory of Georgia Colleges. (2016). Emmis Communications Corporation, 128-141. Retrieved from
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Hatfield, E. A. (2016, June 24). Desegration of Higher Education. Retrieved from New Georgia
Encylopedia: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/desegregation-
higher-education
History. (2015). Retrieved from State of Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission:
http://gnpec.org/about-gnpec/history/
Johnson, E. L. (1981). Misconceptions About the Early Land-Grant Colleges. The Journal of Higher
Education, 333-351. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1981282 doi:1
Perkins, L. M. (1978). Fanny JacksonsCopping and Institute for Colored Youth: A model of nineteenth
century black female educational and community leadership, 1837-1902. University of Illinois.
Seupersad, L. (2012, June 8). Georgia State University Top in Nation for African-American Student
Graduation. Retrieved from Georgia State University: http://news.gsu.edu/2012/06/08/georgia-
state-university-top-in-the-nation-for-african-american-student-graduation/
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