Hey guys! In honor of HBCU Week, I wanted to tell you all about the brilliant man who created such institutions: Richard Humphreys! He founded a school for Black Americans in Philadelphia called the Institute for Colored Youth, which would eventually become Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.
Humphreys was a Quaker and a philanthropist who used one-tenth of his wealth to establish a school for “the descendants of the African race.” The school itself was founded in 1837. Its mission was to teach free skills to African Americans that would help them obtain high-paying jobs. Students at the university study reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as religion and industrial arts. During the 1850s, three more HBCUs were founded: Miner Normal School in Washington, D.C., Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, and Wilberforce in Ohio.
Richard Humphrey’s contributions to the education of African Americans are notable, and without his efforts, many modern HBCUs, like Howard and Hampton University, would not exist. HBCUs create learning environments that educate students of ethnically diverse backgrounds, and it’s crucial that they exist as an option for African-American college students.
- Abigail Hagos
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