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Thirty-two years following passage of the Justin
Smith Morrill Act of 1862, Congress passed the 1890 Morrill
Act creating black land-grant colleges and universities. Today, the rich legacy of the
land-grant tradition remains prominent on the campuses of 17 public black colleges and
universities including Tuskegee University, a private, state-related land-grant
institution. The University of the District of Columbia and the University of the Virgin
Islands were established under the 1862 Morrill Act.
- The most striking testimonial to the resilience and value of black land-grant
institutions is the prominence of the leaders they produce in all fields of
endeavors--leaders such as:
- John Stallworth, former wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and successful
businessman, Alabama A&M University.
- Wiley Austin Branton, Sr. nationally recognized civil-rights attorney and confidant to
Associate Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
- Ralph Waldo Ellison, nationally recognized writer, Tuskegee University.
- Daniel J. "Chappie" James, Jr., four star general, U.S. Air Force and
commander-in-chief of the American Air Defense Command, Tuskegee University.
- Jesse Jackson, former presidential candidate and civil-rights leader, North Carolina
A&T State University
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- Congressman Ed Towns, U.S. House of Representatives, North Carolina A&T State
University.
- Ronald McNair, astronaut who died abroad the space shuttle Challenger, North Carolina
A&T State University.
- Congressman Harold Ford, U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessee State University.
- Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals, Tennessee
State University.
- Three of the largest black universities in the nation are black land-grant institutions:
- University of the District of Columbia
- Florida A&M University
- Southern University and A&M College
- Alabama A&M University, Florida A&M University, North Carolina A&T State
University, South Carolina State University, Southern University & A&M College,
Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University and the University of Maryland Eastern
Shore offer doctorates and/or professional degrees in one or more of the following
disciplines:
- Engineering
- Food Sciences
- Law
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Physics
- Plant and Soil Sciences
- Toxicology
- Veterinary Medicine
- Black land-grant institutions are located in 18 states, the District of Columbia and the
U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Black land-grant institutions annually enroll nearly 40 percent of all students in
four-year historically black colleges and universities.
- Black land-grant institutions are prominent among research institutions in:
- the field of animal sciences
- sustainable agriculture and agriculture economics
- toxicology and waste management
- conservation and environmental management
- business and industrial development
- biomedical science
- food and nutrition
- plant and social sciences
- international development
These institutions have studied ways to boost the productivity of grain legumes--peanuts,
soybeans, pigeon peas and dry beans--to help alleviate poverty in developing nations;
synthesized a series of oxygen-carrying protein complexes that have the potential to serve
as blood substitutes in the treatment of sickle cell anemia; and developed new composite
alloys for use in outer space and earth-based activities.
- A few of the research facilities at black land-grant institutions include a center for
the application of remote sensing; Claude E. Phillips Herbarium; biomedical research;
environmental technology; silicon fabrication; water resources engineering and food
microbiology/nutrition.
- Three of the top five black institutions in the nation contributing to the production of
African American doctorates are black land-grant universities:
- Florida A&M University
- Tennessee State University
- Southern University & A&M College
2/18/97 |
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