America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Narrative History, from the Nineteenth Century into the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

In America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Bobby L. Lovett, a professor of history at Tennessee State University, chronicles the creation and evolution of private and public academic institutions for African Americans and the problematic status that has impeded their full development. From the founding of Cheyney College in 1837, Lovett traces the rise of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the context of the abolition movement, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era and New Deal, through school desegregation battles and the civil rights movement, and into the twenty-first century. Vignettes of individual colleges, portraits of their founders and presidents, and descriptions of lawsuits challenging the separate status of public black colleges illustrate the variation in educational mission, religious affiliation, and financial resources of more than 150 institutions located in the Deep South, border states, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Though Lovett raises tantalizing questions about the role of northern philanthropists, the influence of missionaries, the education of African American women, the paradoxical status of public black colleges, and the conservatism of many black educators, none is explored in depth. Similarly, the book’s presentation of a plethora of statistics on enrollment, expenditures, and endowments in narrative form is less effective than if he had displayed the data in tables or charts. The narrative is supported by a timeline showing the development of HBCUs and an impressive array of sources, although many cite only the first few pages rather than particular passages. An epilogue recounts the contributions of HBCUs and their graduates in the civil rights movement and areas such as the arts, literature, music, and sports. Most interesting are the two final chapters, bringing the story of HBCUs into the twenty-first century. Although all of higher education has experienced cutbacks, HBCUs have been hit disproportionately hard, continuing patterns of underfunding and pressures of academic competition.