Carnegie Library, Wilberforce University

This library was built through matching grants that supported numerous libraries and has served the Wilberforce University community since 1907. Wilberforce University was established in 1856 and is the oldest private HBCU (Historically Black College or University) in the United States. The school is named after William Wilberforce, a 19th-century English politician who wrote and spoke against slavery. William Wilberforce was instrumental in passing through Parliament the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which abolished that practice in the British Colonies. In 1856, the University was planned as a way to support many free and formerly enslaved persons, including many who arrived in Ohio after escaping slavery.

Thanks in part to those who freed themselves using the network known today as the Underground Railroad, many of the towns in southern Ohio were home to African Americans who had come north to escape slavery. Cincinnati served as a major stop along the route to freedom, with many formerly enslaved persons continuing north to Michigan and Canada. Desirous for land ownership and willing to work, many settled in the rich farmland surrounding the towns of Zanesville, Chillicothe, Dayton, and Xenia. This area was also home to a significant number of antislavery leaders and many more farm and business owners who sought laborers. The result was a situation where many who planned on continuing on to Canada decided to stay in Ohio.

With the support of the Governor Salmon Chase, members of the Cincinnati Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church purchased land and buildings at Tanawa Springs, a short-lived health resort just outside of Xenia. Among the founding members were Bishop Daniel Payne, Reverend Lewis Woodson, Ishmael Keith, and Alfred Anderson. They envisioned creating a haven where Black intellectualism could thrive and worked to ensure its future by providing a solid education to those who would seek it.

A large percentage of the early students were the mixed-race children of white planters and their Black female partners. At the time, education would be denied to the children of such unions in the South, but in Ohio, this opportunity could be provided even if not all white residents were supportive. During the period of the Civil War, many of these Southern students were unable to continue their schooling. This led to financial difficulties for the college, which was forced to close its doors temporarily. When Bishop Payne was able to gather the funds to restart the school, he purchased the school himself and was able to reopen. At the end of the war, some of the campus fell victim to arson upon the assassination of President Lincoln in April 1865. Those responsible remain unknown. The college began receiving state funding in 1887. Since then, Wilberforce has created two additional institutions: Central State University and the Payne Theological Seminary.

The existence of the University led directly to the development of a prominent Black professional community in Xenia and has produced a large number of graduates who have gone on to successful careers in diverse fields. The University has become a major point of interest in the landscape of Black culture and played a role in the 20th Century’s Civil Rights Movement. W. E. B. Du Bois was among the faculty for a time. The 1960s saw expansion and construction. During the Super Outbreak in the spring of 1974, however, much of the original campus was destroyed by the powerful tornado that also wiped out half of Xenia.

While Wilberforce University remains a relatively small school with an enrollment of fewer than 1000 students, the institution holds tightly to the vision of the founders and is committed to developing the student’s academic needs, social responsibility, and Christian principles and values. Although historically built to meet the needs of African American students, Wilberforce University welcomes people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds who wish to learn and grow.

http://www.wilberforce.edu/welcome/history.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilberforce_University