Dillard University

Overview

Dillard University is a private historically Black university in New Orleans, affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church, founded in 1930 through the merger of two institutions dating to 1868-69: Straight University and the Union Normal School, which became New Orleans University. The American Missionary Association of the Congregational Church founded Straight University on June 12, 1868, to educate newly freed African Americans in New Orleans; it offered professional training including a law department from 1874 to 1886, and its graduates took part in Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction civil rights struggles, before it was renamed Straight College in 1915. The Union Normal School was established on July 8, 1868, by the Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church to train teachers; the American Missionary Association also helped found several other HBCUs, including Clark Atlanta University, Fisk University, and Hampton University.

A New University for New Orleans

The American Missionary Association, which helped found Straight University, also helped establish several other HBCUs, including Clark Atlanta University, Fisk University, Hampton University, and Howard University. Facing economic hardship, Straight College and New Orleans University — the two schools descended from Straight University and the Union Normal School — negotiated a merger, chartering Dillard University on June 6, 1930. The new university was named for James H. Dillard, an advocate for Black education in the South.