Special Note: Black Oakwood University students and faculty have a rich history of protest and fighting tirelessly for their civil rights. Â There is much to omit for timeliness and length of the following story of the University’s founding. Oakwood University has a rich history of being a civil rights battleground. The students showed great bravery and intellectual prowess to access the full opportunities of the institution that was made for them.
OU has a controversial history regarding its founding. The white founders of the SDA church held typical attitudes befitting the late 1800s toward Black Americans. They adopted a “Principle of Separation” rule in 1889. Upper-level church leadership believed, like most christian dominations at the time, that whites and Blacks should have separate worship houses and services. The co-founder of the SDA church, Ellen White, on March 21, 1891 declared at the twenty-ninth annual General Conference that, “It is the plan of God to work unceasingly to bring salvation to the colored race.” This prompted a committee of 3 senior church leaders to find the perfect site to build a school for “colored people.” The property was acquired on January 1, 1896.
It was founded as Oakwood Industrial Institute because of the many oak trees throughout the campus and white SDA church leaders believed southern Black Americans were best suited to receive industrial education. Thus, the education curriculum consisted of agriculture, carpentry, masonry, domestic service, and horticulture. Despite white SDA church leaders believing that industrial education was best for Black Americans, one Black SDA church leader, Owen A. Troy of Chicago, Illinois, wrote to the president of the General Conference in 1931 stating that Oakwood needed to take a significant step toward a liberal arts education for its students and more support would be needed to do this. However, the white SDA leaders believed Black Americans were “intellectually inferior” and would not benefit from a liberal arts curriculum.
By 1931, many northern Black Americans had enrolled in Oakwood University and complained about the conditions of the institution. Some called it a plantation because of the burdensome work schedules, low wages, and the hinderance the work placed on their ability to accumulate academic credit. In that same year, a committee known as the “Excelsior Society” formed by male Oakwood students and assisted by Female students called “Helpers”, devised a plan to call for the appointment of a Black American college president, Black faculty members, and a liberal arts curriculum in addition to the vocational. The students had up until this point, suffered mistreatment at the hands of an all-white administration and faculty.
In fact, in 1918, Oakwood student Elsie Graves spearheaded a 2-day protest against the all-white administration. On October 8th, 1931, the day the Oakwood University Board of Trustees was scheduled to meet on campus, Student leader Samuel Rashford informed students from the Bell Tower, located in the center of the campus, that there would be no classes, worship, or work until further notice. From the Bell Tower, students were instructed to seal off the campus from outside forces like the Huntsville City Police and monitors were placed at the entrance of all campus buildings to make sure students were informed about the strike.
To boost morale among the student body, the student leaders of the strike made speeches about the unfolding situation and held worship services. A letter sent to the SDA General Conference was also read. Ultimately the strike leaders were asked by the Board of Trustees to meet to discuss their grievances. The board informed the students that no changes would take place until the General Conference meeting in the Fall of the same year. There were Black trustees that asked the striking students to moderate their demands. While meeting with these board members at Irwin Hall, the students agreed to wait until the General Conference Fall Council meeting. The result was the creation of a grievance committee consisting of two white and two Black Oakwood University faculty members. General Conference officials also responded directly to the students’ other demands by informing the college’s president, J.A. Tucker, that they would not tolerate or even make sense of students attempting to tell them how to properly run the college.
Fast forward to the spring of 1932, a Black president, James L. Moran was installed. However, because the white supremacists of the SDA that founded the university were still as hateful as ever, they required that there be a white business manager of the school would be the official communicator between the Black president, Moran, and themselves. Additionally, the ousted white president of the college J.A Tucker called for the dismissal of the leaders of the student strike. Subsequently five of the bravest students that led the protest were expelled (Alan Anderson, Walter W. Fordham, Samuel Rashford, Ernest Moseley, and Herman Murphy). Despite this, the Black students at Oakwood university won themselves a Black president and an all-Black faculty. President Moran also led the school to its elevation to a senior college status in 1944.
There is so much more to learn about Oakwood and its students. You may read more by looking up:Â “Oakwood College Students’Â Quest for Social Justice before and during the Civil Rights Era” by Holly Fisher.
PRESENT DAY
Oakwood University now sits on an astounding 1,185 acres. It offers 58 different majors across five schools. Oakwood is the home of the Ambassadors, and competes in the USCAA Division 1 in basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, and softball.
Notable Alumni:
Delbert Baker: Class of 1975, former president of Oakwood University, Served on the White House Advisory Board for HBCUs for five years.
Clifton Davis: Actor, Singer, Songwriter
Davido: Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, and record producer
Sydney Freeman Jr: Theorist, author, and social scientist.
special fact:Â Little Richard: Architect of Rock N Roll music, Music Icon, Singer, Songwriter is buried at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens
