 The school's campus, c. 1910 | |
Former names |
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|---|---|
| Type | Private,HBCU |
| Active | 1868–1934 |
| Affiliation | American Missionary Association |
| Location | , Louisiana ,United States 29°57′47″N90°05′06″W / 29.9630°N 90.0849°W /29.9630; -90.0849 |
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Straight University (known asStraight College after 1915) was an Americanhistorically black college that operated between 1868 and 1934 inNew Orleans, Louisiana. After struggling with financial difficulties, it was merged withNew Orleans University to formDillard University.
Responding to the post-Civil War need to educate newly freed African Americans in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the surrounding region, theAmerican Missionary Association of the Congregational Church founded Straight University on June 12, 1868.
Straight University received its name as recognition forSeymour Straight's initial endowment gift. Straight was a wealthy cheese manufacturer fromHudson, Ohio. In 1915, the name "Straight University" was changed to Straight College, which more accurately represented the scope of the school's curriculum and program. Missionary work was a core concern, but was primarily prompted and championed by the post-war local need of providing a school where African Americans could aspire to the highest education available after Emancipation. Classes were first held in a Congregational church, but by 1871, a main university building was erected on the northeast corner of Esplanade Avenue and N. Derbigny Street.
As Union soldiers left New Orleans in 1877, the main university building was set ablaze in an act of arson. The structure was completely demolished, and the campus was relocated to the corner of Canal Street and Tonti Street. In 1930, Straight merged with New Orleans University to form Dillard University, Louisiana's oldest historically black university. which extended from New Orleans to Africa.
It was a college that admitted students regardless of their backgrounds, advertising in 1871:
The old and young can enter at this Institution any day, no distinction made in regard to race or color. The design of the Institution, is to furnish opportunities to those wishing a rapid, thorough and practical business education [...]. Parties having ordinary ability, who have entirely neglected their education now have the opportunity to qualify themselves for almost any position in the State, in an incredible short time. From two to three months is all that requires to complete the commeral [sic] course. Terms duced to suit the times [sic].[1]
Throughout its history, Straight offered courses of study ranging fromelementary- to college-level courses in music and theology. In 1934, after struggling with financial difficulties during theGreat Depression, Straight College was merged withNew Orleans University to formDillard University.
Straight University also offered professional training, including a law department from 1874 to 1886. Its graduates participated in local and nationalReconstruction and post-Reconstruction eracivil rights struggles. For example,Louis André Martinet, an 1876 graduate of Straight University Law School, publishedThe Crusader—a civil rights daily; co-founded theComité des Citoyens (Citizens' Committee) in New Orleans, which worked for civil rights; and played a significant role in setting up the challenge to segregation ofPlessy v. Ferguson, a landmark Supreme Court case.[2] His classmateDan Desdunes joined him in this effort before moving toNorth Omaha, Nebraska, to become a band leader.
The Law department is historically notable as an integrated institution where blacks and whites were trained side by side. "It is an interesting fact of our 50 law graduates, 35 have been white."[3] The school struggled to provide its law students with a proper research library. The students typically met for classes in the law professors' offices.[3]
In 1886, Straight discontinued the Law Department. It began to focus primarily onliberal arts,industrial arts, and teacher training.
| W. S. Alexander | 1869–1876 |
| James A. Adams | 1877–1884 |
| R. C. Hitchcock | 1885–1889 |
| Oscar Atwood | 1890–1902 |
| Richard C. Hastings | 1903–1906 |
| Stephen G. Butcher | 1907–1908 |
| Elbert M. Stevens | 1909–1915 |
| Howard A. M. Briggs | 1916–1921 |
| James Putnam O'Brien | 1922–1930 |
| Charles B. Austin | 1931–1935 |
The campus facedCanal Street, occupying the block between Tonti and Rocheblave streets backed by Gasquet (now Cleveland Avenue). After the university was merged with the newly createdDillard University, the campus buildings served as a school and YWCA for nearly two decades. They were demolished in 1950.[4][page needed]
Some graduates brought education and medical care toAfrican Americans during the early part of the 20th century.PhysicianJames W. Ames, for example, founded the first hospital for blacks inDetroit in 1910. He createdDunbar Hospital for physicians and patients of color, as they were unable to practice in or be admitted to Detroit hospitals operated by whites.[5]
Nellie A. Ramsey Leslie became a pioneer teacher inIndian Territory and later in Texas.[6]Other notable alumni includeTom Yarborough, the first Black mayor in California;P.B.S. Pinchback (second African-American lieutenant governor of Louisiana and first African-American governor of any U.S. state);Ernest Lyon (educator and U.S. Ambassador to Liberia);Mary Booze (first African American to sit on theRepublican National Committee, serving fromMississippi from 1924 to 1948);Alice Dunbar Nelson, forerunner of theHarlem Renaissance; andTheodore K. Lawless, a dermatologist and philanthropist.
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