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William S. Scarborough, A.M.. LL.D., Ph.D.
Wilberforce University
Wilberforce. Ohio
Prof. W. S. Scarborough. President
THE fi~st or~anized effort for the.education of the colored
race III thIS country was made 111 September, 1847, in a
school for Negro youth, opened near Xenia, Ohio, and
called "Union Seminary."
It was the first systematic plan of the race for its own education,
and was the first special effort of any race for the mental
uplift of the Negro.
anticipating by nearly
fifty years the present
iuea of i n d u s t l' i a I
training, being conducted
on the manual
lahor plan. This was
the starting point of
Wilberforce University.
Its teachers
•
were Negroes: Rev.
John M. Brown, later
Bishop Brown, its first
principal, assisted by
Mrs. Frances Harper,
a Philadelphia woman
well known in temperance
circles.
Jine years later,
in 1856, the white
people, realizing the
necessity of looking after the welfare of the 30,000 colored
people of Ohio, took action through the Methodist Episcopal
Church in a similar direction. "Tawawa Springs," a beautiful
summer resort in southwestern Ohio, was purchased, and a
school for the colored race was organized and named" Wilberforce
University" in honor of England's great abolitioni~,t,
William Wilberforce.
Incorporated in August, 1856, its first board of twenty-four
trustees included Gov. Salmon P. Cllase, Dr. Richard S. Rust, of
the Methodist Church, and four colored men. At the beginning
the broad principle was adopted, " that there hould never be
279
any distinction among the trustees, faculty, or student, on account
of race, color, or creed." The school opened in October,
1856, under white teachers. Dr. Richard S. Rust left a prominent
pastoral charge to become its fir t pre ident. In later years
he became secretary of the Freedman's Aid Society.
During the first epoch of its hi tory, the chool was patronized
very largely by the children of southern planter·s. Often entire
families were brought, lands were purchased, and home e tabIi
hed. This, with the fact there was also attracted to the place
the best colored element from many points, led to the growth of
a community of negroes exceptional in material po sessions, in
heredity and standing. Wilberforce University was strategically
situated to serve the race, and commendable progress was
made until the Civil War broke out, when Southern patronage
ceased, the school was temporarily clo ed, and the trustees finally
decided to sell the property.
Bishop Payne's Heroic Endeavors
Since 1856, Bi hop D. A. Payne had been its patron and was
ever an active helper in the actual management of the school.
Exiled from his native city, Charleston, S. C., in 1835, because
he was educating the colored youth, he was a zealous advocate of
education for his people through the following years, and a
special pleader for an educated mini try, he could not see the
usefulness of Wilberforce University. at an end. The state of ,
Ohio desired the property, and Daniel A. Payne did not have a
dollar. The tru tees decided to give the race the offer of the
property for $10,000. ot twenty-four hours could be given for
decision. "Without a ten-dollar bill at command," not knowing
where he could obtain any help, Bishop Payne" threw himself
on the strong arm of the Lord" and with ublime faith in the
possibilities of earnest endcavor for such a cause solemnly
pledged the African Mcthodi t Episcopal Chure-h to raise the
required urn, Within forty-eight hours the first hundred
dollars toward the purchase of the properL,Y was given by a
coloreo woman, Mrs. James A. Shorter. At once Bishop Payne
associated with himself Re\'. James A. Shorter, later Bi hop
Shorter, and Prof. John G. :Mite-hell, an early negro graduate of
Oberlin College, in the reorganization and reopening of the
university. Bishop Payne became it pre ident and its leading
pirit for many years.
During all the e year-, " Union Seminar.,' " had kept in exi -
tence. Jow it was sold and merged into Wilber'force University.
