Guess who came first?

 

  Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Toni Morrison, and Zora Neale Hurston are all well known famous alumni of Howard University, but do we honestly know who opened up the doors for these celebrities? Howard University one of the oldest black colleges in the U.S. was established in 1866 and started out as a theological seminary to train black ministers. Soon after in 1867 the university was renamed honoring General Oliver Otis Howard (a member of the white first Congregational society).  The university majority white at the time reflected on educating the youth and African Americans. In 1926 a shift in the administration took place with the appointment of Mordecai Wyatt Johnson as president. Once the shift occurred Howard University attracted renowned African American scholars from all over, and gave birth to many of the civil rights and black power movements of the late 19^th and 20^th centuries.