[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 209 (Thursday, December 21, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8264-S8265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SENATE RESOLUTION 366--HONORING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 9 
  HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES THAT CELEBRATED THEIR 
SESQUICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARIES DURING THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 24 THROUGH 
                           SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

  Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Booker, Mr. Brown, Mrs. 
Gillibrand, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Burr) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 366

       Whereas, in 1867, 9 historically Black colleges and 
     universities were established in 4 Southern States, Alabama, 
     Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina, as well as in the 
     District of Columbia, which constituted the largest number of 
     historically Black Colleges and Universities founded in any 
     single year before or after that date;
       Whereas the 9 historically Black colleges and universities 
     that celebrated their sesquicentennial anniversaries during 
     the week of September 24 through September 30, 2017, trace 
     their foundings to rather modest beginnings but, in the 
     course of a century and a half, have established records of 
     significant achievement and legacies of devotion to academic 
     excellence;
       Whereas the 9 institutions celebrating their 
     sesquicentennial anniversaries include--
       (1) Alabama State University in Marion, Alabama;
       (2) Barber-Scotia College in Concord, North Carolina;
       (3) Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North 
     Carolina;
       (4) Howard University in Washington, District of Columbia;
       (5) Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North 
     Carolina;
       (6) Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia;
       (7) Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland;
       (8) St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, North Carolina; 
     and
       (9) Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama;
       Whereas Alabama State University was incorporated on July 
     17, 1867, as Lincoln Normal School in Marion, Alabama, by 9 
     freed slaves to educate Black children;
       Whereas Lincoln Normal School--
       (1) was founded with $500, which was used to purchase the 
     land and lay the foundation;
       (2) in 1928, was converted from a junior college to a 4-
     year college; and
       (3) in 1969, was formally granted a name change by the 
     Alabama State Board of Education and became Alabama State 
     University;
       Whereas notable figures of the civil rights era attended 
     and graduated from Alabama State University, including the 
     Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, attorney Fred Gray, and the 
     Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth;
       Whereas Barber-Scotia College--
       (1) in 1867, was founded as Scotia Seminary in Concord, 
     North Carolina, by the Reverend Luke Dorland; and
       (2) in 1870, was chartered to educate newly freed female 
     slaves;
       Whereas Scotia Seminary--
       (1) was the first historically Black institution of higher 
     education for females established in the United States;
       (2) in 1916, was renamed as Scotia Women's College; and
       (3) in 1930, merged with Barber Memorial College to become 
     Barber-Scotia Junior College for women;
       Whereas Barber-Scotia College became a 4-year college for 
     women in 1946 and a coeducational institution in 1954;
       Whereas one of the distinguished graduates of Barber-Scotia 
     College was Mary McCleod Bethune, the founder of Bethune-
     Cookman College;
       Whereas Fayetteville State University was formed as the 
     Howard School on November 29, 1867, by 7 African-American men 
     who paid $136 for 2 lots on Gillespie Street in Fayetteville, 
     North Carolina;
       Whereas the Howard School was formally renamed Fayetteville 
     State University in 1969;
       Whereas Fayetteville State University holds the distinction 
     of being the second oldest public school in North Carolina;
       Whereas Howard University--
       (1) was chartered by Congress on March 2, 1867, in 
     Washington, District of Columbia;
       (2) stands today as the most comprehensive historically 
     Black college and university in the United States, in terms 
     of undergraduate and graduate programs of study;
       (3) has produced numerous Rhodes scholars, Truman scholars, 
     Fulbright scholars, and Picking fellows and a Marshall 
     scholar during the history of the university; and
       (4) has graduated some of the most accomplished African-
     Americans in history, including Justice of the Supreme Court 
     of the United States Thurgood Marshall, author Toni Morrison, 
     and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations 
     Andrew Young;
       Whereas 5 current Members of Congress are graduates of 
     Howard University;
       Whereas Johnson C. Smith University was established on 
     April 7, 1867, as the Biddle Memorial Institute by Reverend 
     S.C. Alexander and Reverend W.L. Miller in Charlotte, North 
     Carolina;
       Whereas the first football game with African-American 
     players was played at Biddle University in 1892, a game that 
     today is called the ``Commemorative Classic'';
       Whereas Johnson C. Smith University--
       (1) is the first historically Black college and university 
     in the South to offer professional courses in education; and
       (2) has produced numerous politicians, including Eva 
     Clayton, the first African-American to represent North 
     Carolina in the House of Representatives since the 19th 
     century;
       Whereas Morehouse College--
       (1) in 1867, was founded by the Reverend William Jefferson 
     White in Augusta, Georgia;
       (2) in 1879, was moved from Augusta, Georgia, to its 
     current location in Atlanta, Georgia;
       (3) is the largest college for men in the United States, 
     enrolling more than 2,000 students;
       (4) is 1 of only 2 historically Black colleges and 
     universities to produce a Rhodes scholar; and
       (5) has graduated a number of African-American luminaries, 
     including the Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, Maynard Jackson, 
     film director Spike Lee, and the Reverend Martin Luther King, 
     Jr.;
       Whereas 2 current Members of Congress are graduates of 
     Morehouse College;
       Whereas Morgan State University was founded in Baltimore, 
     Maryland, as the Centenary Biblical Institute in 1867 to 
     train former slaves and freedmen for the Methodist ministry;
       Whereas, the Centenary Biblical Institute--
       (1) in 1874, became coeducational;
       (2) in 1890, changed its name to Morgan College in honor of 
     one of its board members; and
       (3) in 1939, was purchased by the State of Maryland to 
     provide more academic opportunities for black students and 
     was renamed Morgan State College;
       Whereas Morgan State College--
       (1) distinguished itself as a liberal arts college;
       (2) in 1975, was granted university status; and
       (3) has been designated as the preeminent public research 
     university in Maryland, as well as a National Treasure by the 
     National Trust for Historic Preservation;
       Whereas, in 2004, the Morgan State Choir was named ``The 
     Nation's Best College Choir'' by Reader's Digest and has 
     performed for audiences on 4 continents;
       Whereas Morgan State University--
       (1) has graduated a great number of prominent African-
     American leaders in politics, law, entertainment, and 
     science; and
       (2) has a list of alumni that includes Congressmen Parren 
     J. Mitchell and Kweisi Mfume, Chief Justice of the Court of 
     Appeals of Maryland Robert M. Bell, novelist Zora Neale 
     Hurston, and Pulitzer-Prize winner James Alan McPherson;
       Whereas St. Augustine's University was founded in 1867 as 
     the St. Augustine's Normal School by prominent Episcopal 
     clergy for the education of freed slaves in Raleigh, North 
     Carolina;
       Whereas St. Agnes Hospital and Training School for Nurses, 
     the first school of nursing for African-American students in 
     the state of North Carolina--
       (1) was established by St. Augustine's Normal School in 
     1895; and
       (2) was the only hospital in North Carolina that served 
     African-Americans until 1960;
       Whereas St. Augustine's University was the first 
     historically Black college and university to own an on-campus 
     commercial radio and television station; and
       Whereas Talladega College--
       (1) was founded by 3 former slaves in Talladega, Alabama, 
     in 1867;
       (2) is the oldest, private historically Black college and 
     university in the State of Alabama;
       (3) was the first institution in the State of Alabama to 
     admit qualified persons of any race or ethnicity; and
       (4) has produced several African-American ``firsts'', 
     including--
          (A) Wynona Lipman, the first African-American woman 
     elected to the Senate of the State of New Jersey; and
          (B) the Reverend Dr. Paul Smith, the first African-
     American minister at the First Presbyterian Church of 
     Brooklyn, New York; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors the accomplishments of--
       (A) the 9 historically Black colleges and universities that 
     celebrated their sesquicentennial anniversaries during the 
     week of

[[Page S8265]]

     September 24 through September 30, 2017; and
       (B) historically Black colleges and universities in 
     general;
       (2) celebrates the 150th anniversary of those 9 
     institutions;
       (3) encourages Congress and the people of the United States 
     to recognize the beneficial impact historically Black 
     colleges and universities have had on the United States; and
       (4) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate 
     make available 5 enrolled copies of this resolution to the 
     Office of the President or Chancellor of each of those 9 
     historically Black colleges and universities.

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