Wilberforce University students in class   Save
National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center
Description: Male and female students in class, Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio. In 1856, the Methodist Episcopal Church established Wilberforce University near Xenia, Ohio, to provide African Americans access to a college education. The university was the first private black college in the United States, and was named by its founders after William Wilberforce, a prominent eighteenth-century abolitionist. A number of African American Ohioans attended the school during its early years. During the American Civil War, attendance declined as many students enlisted in the Union army. Wilberforce University closed in 1862. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03806
Subjects: Greene County (Ohio); Multicultural Ohio -- African American Ohioans; Students -- Ohio
Places: Wilberforce (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)