Wayland Seminary
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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 Gospe ...
(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 ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
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), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
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 Rich ...
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 ...
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 "
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), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
", 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 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 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 Gospe ...
(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. (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). 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. 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
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 Rich ...
(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 ...
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, 19th century American Baptist pastor who founded two churches with active congregations in the 21st century * Nellie Arnold Plummer, teacher and author * Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., 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 Con ...
in Harlem (New York City), civil rights activist, speaker and author * John Wesley Terry, 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