Wayland Seminary was the Washington, D.C. school of the National Theological Institute. The institute was established beginning in 1865 by the

American Baptist Home Mission Society The American Baptist Home Mission Society is a Christian missionary society. Its main predecessor the Home Mission Society was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gos ...

(ABHMS). At first designed primarily for providing education and training for

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

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 Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Richm ...

in Richmond.

1865: Plans to educate the freedmen

By late 1865, the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

was over and

slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...

ended with the adoption of the

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representative ...

. However, known as "

", millions of former

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

slaves were without employable job skills, opportunities, and even literacy itself (e.g., in Virginia, since the bloody

Nat Turner Rebellion Nat Turner's Rebellion, historically known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a slave revolt, rebellion of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.Schwarz, Frederic D.1 ...

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

(ABHMS) proposed a "National Theological Institute" (NTI) which would educate those wishing to enter the Baptist ministry. 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 (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. (Another school, the Augusta Institute, now

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 ...

, 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). The classes which eventually developed into a school became known as Wayland Seminary. The school was named in commemoration of

Francis Wayland Francis Wayland (March 11, 1796 – September 30, 1865), was an American Baptist minister, educator and economist. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washingto ...

, former president of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and a leader in the anti-slavery struggle. The first and only president was George Mellen Prentiss King, an abolitionist, who administered Wayland for 30 years (1867–97).http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/12483/21/Panel_21_George_Mellen_Prentiss_King.pdf 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. However, the branch in Richmond had also grown into a substantial institution by 1897, and had become known as Richmond Theological Seminary.

1899: Merger to form 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

(VUU) in Richmond and land for a new campus was purchased. Over 100 years later, VUU's 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: * Alfred L. Cralle, inventor of the

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

scoop *

Kate Drumgoold Kate Drumgoold (born c. 1858 or 1859 – ?) was an American woman born into slavery around 1858 near Petersburg, Virginia. Her life is captured in her 1898 autobiography, ''A Slave Girl's Story, Being an Autobiography of Kate Drumgoold.'' It offers ...

, author of ''A Slave Girl’s Story: Being an account of Kate Drumgoold'' (1898) * Henry N. Jeter, Newport, Rhode Island minister * Harvey Johnson,

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

pastor and early civil rights activist *

Robert S. Laws Rev. Dr. Robert Simon Laws, a formerly enslaved person and Howard University graduate, founded two African American Baptist churches in the 19th century that have active congregations in the 21st century. Early life Robert Simon Laws was born o ...

, 19th century American Baptist pastor who founded two churches with active congregations in the 21st century *

Nellie Arnold Plummer Nellie Arnold Plummer (September 7, 1860 to 1933)Hopkinson (2003). was a former slave who became the first female student to attend the Normal Department of Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. She subsequently worked as a teacher for over forty ...

, teacher and author *

Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. Adam Clayton Powell (May 5, 1865 – June 12, 1953) was an American pastor who developed the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York as the largest Protestant congregation in the country, with 10,000 members. He was an African American com ...

, pastor of

Abyssinian Baptist Church The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 132 West 138th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the National Baptist Conv ...

in Harlem (New York City), civil rights activist, speaker and author *

John Wesley Terry John Wesley Terry (1846–?) was a Baptist preacher and labor leader in central Tennessee and Chicago. In Chicago, he became foreman of a shop in the West Division Street Car Company and became an officer of the Knights of Labor, taking part in the ...

, Chicago labor leader *

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 ...

, prominent educator and political figure

References

{{authority control History of Washington, D.C. Historically black universities and colleges in the United States Seminaries and theological colleges in Washington, D.C. Virginia Union University