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11 Chapter One Prelude to Community Foundations of the Howard University Intellectual Community, 1890–1926 he years from 1890 to 1929 saw the emergence of Howard University as the “Capstone of Negro Education,” although as author Walter Dyson notes, Howard held that designation only from 1904 onward. Jonathan Holloway suggests it is more than likely that Howard was the Capstone in name only, and it was not until the administration of Mordecai Johnson that Howard gained its true prominence as an intellectual haven for black Americans.1 I argue that the stellar Howard University intellectual community that blossomed in the 1930s had its foundation in this initial thirty-year period. Foundational figures such as Alexander Crummell, Kelly Miller, and Carter G. Woodson made a considerable impact on the intellectual environment. Many of the events surrounding the removal of the last white president, J. Stanley Durkee, were spawned during calculated strikes at Howard by the student body, in addition to strident protests by the faculty and alumni. Howard’s rise to intellectual prominence happened at the same time as the rise of the Harlem Renaissance and the emergence of the New Negro mentality in black middle-class and intellectual circles. Among the major leading lights of the movement, philosopher and social critic Alain Locke was a professor at Howard.2 He contributed mightily to the intellectual foundation of the university, and he acquired considerable visibility as a public intellectual and for being one of the main leaders of the New Negro movement. I argue that, concurrent with the active nature of the black middle class there, Washington, D.C., was also a special seat of the New Negro renaissance, which extended far beyond the boundaries of Harlem. The black middle class in D.C. included many foundational figures at Howard T In Search of the Talented Tenth 12 and helped to carve a rare and important cultural and intellectual haven for black Americans. The culture and nightlife of D.C.’s famous areas such as U Street attracted many noted entertainers and intellectuals. The nation’s capital was the perfect backdrop for a university such as Howard to become elevated to a celebrated intellectual status, partly because of its proximity to the seat of government and partly for the presence of countless philanthropic foundations, think tanks, policy organizations, and for the existence of a large, active, and prosperous black population. All these conditions served as the proper impetus for the events that brought Mordecai W. Johnson to the presidency of Howard in 1926. These characteristics also created an environment that was conducive to Johnson’s plan to make Howard a thriving center of intellectualism and activism. The 1920s witnessed the rise of the New Negro movement. The great migrations north by southern blacks created a prime opportunity for someone like Johnson and his activist intellectual ambassadors to harness and mobilize networks for social change, not only in the city but nationally and internationally. During the period from 1890 to 1929, the nation’s capital experienced the same level of Jim Crow segregation as was simulta­ neously spreading across the American South. Neither black Washington nor Howard University was immune to the innumerable constraints imposed by segregation both customary and encoded in law. Although located geographically between the American North and the South, Washington, D.C., nevertheless was a very southern and segregated city. Much of the history of race relations in the nation’s capital attests to this fact. It was in the city, not far from the doorsteps of Howard, that the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896 handed down the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson decision that legalized segregation not only in D.C. but throughout the nation. This decision would alter and dramatically affect race relations and everyday life in D.C. from 1896 to the time in 1954 when many of Howard’s legal and social science scholars would collaborate to finally bring an end to Jim Crow. Throughout their tenure at Howard, the university’s scholars and activists felt the sting of racism and segregation, both in academia and outside its hallowed halls. It was easy for Howard professors to see a natural connection between life at the university (referred to as the academy) and life in the black community. Many professors lived in the heart of the black community. Their everyday lives centered around its institutions such as churches, schools, and other businesses. They were intimately familiar with the concerns of the community and its needs...

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