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The American Negro Academy (ANA), founded in Washington, DC in 1897, was the first organization in the United States to support African-American academic scholarship. It operated until 1928,Smith and encouraged African Americans to undertake classical academic studies and
liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
. It was intended to provide support to African Americans working in classic scholarship and the arts, as promoted by
W.E.B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...
in his essays about the Talented Tenth, and others of the elite. This was in contrast to
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
's approach to education at
Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...
in Alabama, which he led. There he emphasized vocational and industrial training for southern blacks, which he thought were more practical for the lives that most blacks would live in the rural, segregated South.


Founding members

The founders of the ANA were primarily authors, scholars, and artists. They included
Alexander Crummell Alexander Crummell (March 3, 1819 – September 10, 1898) was a pioneering African-American minister, academic and African nationalist. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States, Crummell went to England in the late 1840s to raise money ...
, an Episcopal priest and Republican from New York City, who had also worked in
Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
for two decades and founded the first independent black Episcopal church in Washington, DC;
John Wesley Cromwell John Wesley Cromwell (September 5, 1846 – April 14, 1927) was a lawyer, teacher, civil servant, journalist, historian, and civil rights activist in Washington, DC. He was among the founders of the Bethel Literary and Historical Society and the ...
of Washington, DC;
Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...
, poet and writer in Washington; Walter B. Hayson;
Archibald Grimké Archibald Henry Grimké (August 17, 1849 – February 25, 1930) was an American lawyer, intellectual, journalist, diplomat and community leader in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He graduated from freedmen's schools, Lincoln University in Pe ...
(brother of Francis), attorney and writer; and scientist Kelly Miller. Crummell served as founding president. Their first meeting on March 5, 1897 included eighteen members: *
Blanche K. Bruce Blanche Kelso Bruce (March 1, 1841March 17, 1898) was born into slavery in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and went on to become a politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1881. He was the f ...
Seraile, William. ''Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings of John Edward Bruce.'' Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2003. p110-111 * Levi J. Coppin * William H. Crogman *
John Wesley Cromwell John Wesley Cromwell (September 5, 1846 – April 14, 1927) was a lawyer, teacher, civil servant, journalist, historian, and civil rights activist in Washington, DC. He was among the founders of the Bethel Literary and Historical Society and the ...
*Dr.
Alexander Crummell Alexander Crummell (March 3, 1819 – September 10, 1898) was a pioneering African-American minister, academic and African nationalist. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States, Crummell went to England in the late 1840s to raise money ...
, an Episcopal clergyman, trained in theology and a prominent church founder. * W.E.B Du Bois, scholar and activist, a co-founder in 1909 of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
(NAACP). *
Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...
*
William H. Ferris William Henry Ferris (July 20, 1874 – 1941) was an author, minister, and scholar. Early life He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of David H. and Sarah Ann Jefferson Ferris. His grandparents were free at the time of his father's birt ...
* Francis J. Grimké, PhD a Presbyterian clergymen, trained in theological studies. Brother of Archibald. * Benjamin F. Lee * Kelly Miller, PhD professor of Mathematics, known as the first black graduate student to enroll at
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
. * William S. Scarborough * John H. Smythe * Theophilus G. Steward * T. McCants Stewart *
Benjamin Tucker Tanner Benjamin Tucker Tanner (December 25, 1835 – January 14, 1923) was an American clergyman and editor. He served as a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1886, and founded ''The Christian Recorder'' (see Early American Metho ...
*
Robert Heberton Terrell Robert Heberton Terrell (November 27, 1857 – December 20, 1925) was an attorney and the second African American to serve as a justice of the peace in Washington, DC. In 1911 he was appointed as a judge to the District of Columbia Municipal Co ...
* Richard R. Wright


Other prominent members

*
Orishatukeh Faduma Orishatukeh Faduma (born, September 15, 1855, Guyana - died January 25, 1946, High Point, North Carolina) was an African-American Christian missionary and educator who was also an advocate for African culture. He contributed to laying the foundat ...
, missionary and educator * George Washington Henderson, theologian and academic * John Hope, president of
Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...
and
Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Fou ...
*
James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...
, writer and civil rights advocate for the NAACP *
Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect ...
, philosopher * Robert Pelham Jr., journalist, civil servant, and civil rights activist *
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 10, 1938), was a historian, writer, collector, and activist. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent. He moved to the United States in 1891, where he researched and raised awa ...
, historian, writer, activist, and founder of the
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) b ...
*
Carter G. Woodson Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the h ...
, historian, editor *
Monroe Work Monroe Nathan Work (August 15, 1866 – May 2, 1945) was an African-American sociologist who founded the Department of Records and Research at the Tuskegee Institute in 1908. His published works include the ''Negro Year Book'' and '' A Bibliograph ...
, sociologist, activist, and editor *Robert Tecumtha Browne (1882-1978), was a prominent member. In 1914 he co-founded the Negro Library Association in New York City. In 1919 he published his masterwork, ''The Mystery of Space'', considered a synthesis of "mathematics, hyperspace, Eastern religious philosophy, theosophy, and mysticism," which was highly praised by mainstream press. He had concealed his race to get the book published. Browne served as the vice president of ANA in 1921, the same year in which he delivered the keynote address, entitled "Einstein's Theory of Relativity." He revised the group's bylaws, at the invitation of Arturo Schomburg.


Early meetings

The Academy was organized in 1897 in Washington, D.C. Black newspapers expressed excitement that the Academy would have possibilities to serve a large audience, seeking to elevate the race through educational enlightenment. Through an assessment of statistical tends, mainly concerning black illiteracy, the Academy planned its work to be published in its Occasional Papers. The scholarly contributions aided the spirit of blacks in the South, who were being disenfranchised by white-dominated legislatures, who also imposed
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
laws. The Academy generally held an annual meeting of one-two days at Lincoln Temple Memorial Church in Washington, D.C. The public was invited to attend all but the Academy's business meetings, reserved solely for members. The schedule would occupy the entire day. Reports were presented by the Academy's secretary and treasurer. During this time, new membership applications to the Academy were considered, as well as discussions on current business. In the evening, an annual address was delivered. For example, W.E.B. Du Bois presented the Academy's second annual address. A presentation of a paper would follow. The following day, after several paper presentations, discussions took place. Discussions centered around the efficacy of a scholar's musings. Copies of papers were available upon requests made directly to the Academy's secretary, or through newspaper requests.


Legacy and efficacy

The ANA was part of the early struggle for equal rights for blacks, seeking to support their academic efforts. It was organized shortly after the United States Supreme Court had upheld the principle of "separate but equal" in the 1896 case, ''
Plessy v. Ferguson ''Plessy v. Ferguson'', 163 U.S. 537 (1896), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in qualit ...
.'' DuBois suggested that a Talented Tenth of African Americans, primarily composed of blacks trained in classical
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
, could lead in educating masses of black citizens. He knew that most of the latter, who still lived in the rural South, would likely work in rural or unskilled jobs. But he wanted to provide opportunities for blacks who could surpass those limits. Through a publication of works among the Academy's Occasional Papers, the group wanted to expand the reach of its scholarship. As Crummel said, to aid the black intellectual's efforts to have influence on “his schools, academies and colleges; and then enters his pulpits; and so filters down into his families and his homes…to be a laborer with intelligence, enlightenment and manly ambitions”.Crummel, Alexander. "Papers of the American Negro Academy." Project Gutenberg. December 28, 1898. Scholars have disputed the influence of the Academy. Dr. Alfred A. Moss Jr. argued for its efficacy in ''The American Negro Academy: Voice of the Talented Tenth''. In his analysis of a collection of private letters written by Crummell, Moss said that nearly from the beginning, the Academy was bound to decline. It was unable to consistently organize; it struggled to recruit new members, and especially to raise scholarship funds for the education of more students. Moss claims that founding member Archibald Henry Grimké expressed in his writings an understanding of the difficulties and socio-economic hardships among African Americans, but, given efforts to unseat him as ANA president, he spent more effort on self-serving interests.


See also

* Talented Tenth *
Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
*
African-American upper class The African-American upper class is a social class that consists of African-American individuals who have high disposable incomes and high net worth. The group may include highly paid white-collar professionals such as academics, engineers, law ...


Footnotes


References

*'' American Negro Academy Occasional Papers, Issues 1-22'', Ayer Publishing, 1970 *Moss, Alfred A., ''The American Negro Academy: Voice of the Talented Tenth'', Louisiana State University Press, 1981, *Moses, Wilson Jeremiah, ''Alexander Crummell: A Study of Civilization and Discontent'', Oxford University Press, 1989, pp 365–366: reproduces the organization's bylaws. *Peress, Maurice, ''Dvořák to Duke Ellington: a conductor explores America's music and its African American Roots'', Oxford University Press, 2004, pp 54–65. *Smith, Jessie Carney, and Wynn, Linda T., ''Freedom facts and firsts: 400 years of the African American civil rights experience'', Visible Ink Press, 2009 {{Authority control African-American history of Washington, D.C. African Americans and education African-American literature African-American arts organizations Clubs and societies in the United States Learned societies of the United States Educational institutions established in 1897 1897 establishments in Washington, D.C. Organizations disestablished in 1928 1928 disestablishments in the United States