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Wayland Seminary

{{Short description|American school}}

{{More citations needed|date=February 2023}}

File:Wayland Seminary.jpg in Washington, D.C.]]

Wayland Seminary was the Washington, D.C., school of the National Theological Institute.{{Cite web|last=Martinez|first=Eligio|date=2010-01-10|title=Virginia Union University (1865- ) •|url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/virginia-union-university-1865/|access-date=2021-11-28|language=en-US}} The institute was established beginning in 1865 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS). At first designed primarily for providing education and training for African-American freedmen to enter into the ministry, it expanded its offerings to meet the educational demands of the former enslaved population. Just before the end of the 19th century it was merged with its sister institution, the Richmond Theological Seminary, to form the current Virginia Union University in Richmond.

1865: Plans to educate the freedmen

By late 1865, the American Civil War was over and slavery in the United States ended with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, known as "freedmen", millions of former African American slaves were without employable job skills, opportunities, and even literacy itself (e.g., in Virginia, since Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831, it had been unlawful to teach a slave to read).

Some realized that these newly freed people were in need of educational opportunities. Members of the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) proposed a "National Theological Institute" (NTI) which would educate those wishing to enter the Baptist ministry.{{cite web|last=Hylton|first=Raymond|title=UNIVERSITY HISTORY|url=http://www.vuu.edu/about_vuu/history.aspx|work=ABOUT VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY|publisher=VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY|access-date=12 May 2012}} Soon, the proposed mission was expanded to offer courses and programs at college, high school and even preparatory levels, to both men and women.

1867–1897: Washington, D.C.

Separate branches were set up in Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia. (Another school, the Augusta Institute, now Morehouse College, also received the support of the NTI.) Classes began in both cities by 1867. In Washington, classes were held in the basement of the First Colored Baptist Church of Washington, D.C. (the church was later renamed the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church).Logan, Rayford (1968). Howard University: The first hundred years 1867–1967, New York University Press, {{ISBN|0814702635}}. The classes which eventually developed into a school became known as Wayland Seminary. The school was named in commemoration of Francis Wayland, former president of Brown University and a leader in the anti-slavery struggle.{{cite journal | url=https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=VUB19650601.1.8 | title=A Century of Service to Education and Religion | journal=Virginia Union Bulletin | date=June 1, 1965 | volume=65 | issue=5 | pages=6}} A new building for Wayland students opened in 1875. It was located in present-day Meridian Hill Park and demolished around 1900.{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/places/000/information-panel-campus-to-army-camps-and-back-again.htm | title=Information Panel: Campus to Army Camps and Back Again | publisher=National Park Service | accessdate=March 2, 2025}}{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2008/05/18/the-wild-man-at-the-center-of-the-world/1e93b126-4e8e-4ee4-9235-6b7c19d37b91/ | title=The Wild Man At The Center Of The World | work=The Washington Post | date=May 17, 2008 | accessdate=March 2, 2025 | author=Taylor, David | id={{ProQuest|410269686}} }}{{cite news | url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1938-07-10/ed-1/seq-28/ | title=Summers of Old Washington | work=The Evening Star | date=July 10, 1938 | accessdate=March 2, 2025 | author=Proctor, John Clagett | pages=C-4}}

The first president was George Mellen Prentiss King,{{Prove it|date=February 2023|reason=We have citation for George Rice Hovey serving as president the last few years of the school}} an abolitionist, who administered Wayland for 30 years (1867–1897).[https://web.archive.org/web/20091002060732/http://www.vuu.edu/about_vuu/history.aspx Virginia Union University | History]{{cite web|url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/12483/21/Panel_21_George_Mellen_Prentiss_King.pdf | access-date=2023-11-06 | title=George Mellen Prentiss King}} Over the 30 years King led Wayland, the other branch of the originally planned National Theological Institute at Richmond had faced even greater challenges than Wayland. There, the first classes were actually held in a former "slave jail" building.

George Rice Hovey served as president of the school from 1897 to 1899.{{Cite news |date=1943-01-31 |title=Hovey Rites Will Be Held In New Jersey |pages=24 |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120077042/hovey-rites-will-be-held-in-new-jersey/ |access-date=2023-03-03}}

1899: Merger to form Virginia Union University

{{Details|Virginia Union University}}

During the 1890s plans were pushed forward to merge several ABHMS institutions into one university, and by 1899 it was agreed that Wayland Seminary and Richmond Theological Seminary would come together to form Virginia Union University (VUU) in Richmond and land for a new campus was purchased. Over 100 years later, VUU's {{Convert|84|acre|m2|adj=on}} campus is still located there, at 1500 North Lombardy Street in Richmond's North Side.

Notable students

Students at Wayland between 1867 and 1897 included a number of individuals who became famous African American citizens of the United States. These include:

References

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{{Coord missing|Washington, D.C.,}}

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Category:History of Washington, D.C.

Category:Historically black universities and colleges in the United States

Category:Seminaries and theological colleges in Washington, D.C.

Category:Virginia Union University