Walden University (Tennessee)
Encyclopedia
Walden University a historically black college, was created by northern missionaries of the Methodist Church in 1865 in Nashville
, Tennessee
to serve freedmen. For more than three generations, it provided education and professional choices to African Americans.
Meharry Medical College
, established as one of Walden's departments in 1876, was the first medical school in the South
for African Americans. In 1915 it was chartered separately and became a separate institution. It is one of the constellation of colleges in Nashville.
After regrouping as a junior college in 1922 and offering a two-year associate's degree, Walden College closed in 1925 due to financial difficulties and competition with state-run colleges. Since 1935, its second campus (acquired in 1922) has served Trevecca Nazarene University
.
. They first organized a basic community school for freedmen. Classes attracted both children and adults, as people eagerly embraced the chance for literacy and learning.
After the state established a public elementary school in Nashville, in 1867 the Methodists chartered Central Tennessee College for freedmen. The Freedmen's Bureau helped finance construction of the first two brick buildings. The directors added higher level courses, including teacher education, agriculture, science, and theology. The college was part of a first generation of such institutions across the South to educate freedmen and to teach teachers and ministers, fields that were closely aligned as callings. To aid students, it included preparatory classes for those who had not had much prior education. Gaining education was seen as a priority for African Americans, and the vocation of teaching attracted many of the most talented people. Segregation made separate institutions for blacks necessary.
In 1876, the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College was founded as the first medical school in the South for blacks. It was founded and supported financially by Samuel Meharry and his four brothers, Scots-Irish immigrants who became philanthropists. In 1915 the medical department received a separate charter and became Meharry Medical College
. It still continues in Nashville.
Expansion continued in the 1880s, when the college added departments of law, pharmacy (also the first in the South for African Americans), dentistry and industrial arts.
In the 1890s, the college added courses for women, including nursing in 1892. The college also stressed what were considered industrial and domestic arts, as promoted at Tuskegee Institute. Struggles continued over the appropriate role of the college, a tension reflected in southern education during these years.
In 1900, Central Tennessee College was renamed Walden University in honor of Methodist Bishop John Morgan Walden
, who had served freedmen as a missionary after the American Civil War
. The university then had thirteen departments and 68 faculty.
After the state established Tennessee Agricultural, Industrial, and Normal State School, now Tennessee State University
, in Nashville in 1912, Walden University had more trouble attracting students and struggled to reframe its mission. In addition, in response to lynchings and disfranchisement, many ambitious African Americans left Nashville and other southern areas in the Great Migration
to northern cities for work and more freedom. The percentage of black population in the city dropped sharply from its 40 percent in 1890. Due to other demographic influences and economic changes, by the 1970s, only 22 percent of the city was black.
In 1922, Walden University was renamed Walden College and was moved to a 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) campus overlooking the black neighborhood of Trimble Bottom. It served as a junior college, with pre-medical and pre-law programs among its offerings. Continuing financial difficulties forced its closing in 1925.
In 1935 the campus was leased by Trevecca Nazarene University
, a private Christian
institution affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, which purchased it in 1937.
As the state gradually took on more responsibility and financing of education, the need for Walden as a private institution decreased. African Americans had more choices in colleges which they could attend.
(See Meharry Medical College
for list of many notable medical alumni, including some from the historical period of affiliation with Walden University.)
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
to serve freedmen. For more than three generations, it provided education and professional choices to African Americans.
Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, is a graduate and professional institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church whose mission is to educate healthcare professionals and scientists. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee...
, established as one of Walden's departments in 1876, was the first medical school in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
for African Americans. In 1915 it was chartered separately and became a separate institution. It is one of the constellation of colleges in Nashville.
After regrouping as a junior college in 1922 and offering a two-year associate's degree, Walden College closed in 1925 due to financial difficulties and competition with state-run colleges. Since 1935, its second campus (acquired in 1922) has served Trevecca Nazarene University
Trevecca Nazarene University
Trevecca Nazarene University is a private Christian liberal arts college located in Nashville, Tennessee.-History:TNU was founded in 1901 by Cumberland Presbyterian minister J. O. McClurkan as the "Pentecostal Literary and Bible Training School"...
.
History
Walden University, a historically black university (HBCU), could be said to have been founded in Nashville in 1865 by missionaries from the northern Methodist Episcopal ChurchMethodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
. They first organized a basic community school for freedmen. Classes attracted both children and adults, as people eagerly embraced the chance for literacy and learning.
After the state established a public elementary school in Nashville, in 1867 the Methodists chartered Central Tennessee College for freedmen. The Freedmen's Bureau helped finance construction of the first two brick buildings. The directors added higher level courses, including teacher education, agriculture, science, and theology. The college was part of a first generation of such institutions across the South to educate freedmen and to teach teachers and ministers, fields that were closely aligned as callings. To aid students, it included preparatory classes for those who had not had much prior education. Gaining education was seen as a priority for African Americans, and the vocation of teaching attracted many of the most talented people. Segregation made separate institutions for blacks necessary.
In 1876, the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College was founded as the first medical school in the South for blacks. It was founded and supported financially by Samuel Meharry and his four brothers, Scots-Irish immigrants who became philanthropists. In 1915 the medical department received a separate charter and became Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, is a graduate and professional institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church whose mission is to educate healthcare professionals and scientists. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee...
. It still continues in Nashville.
Expansion continued in the 1880s, when the college added departments of law, pharmacy (also the first in the South for African Americans), dentistry and industrial arts.
In the 1890s, the college added courses for women, including nursing in 1892. The college also stressed what were considered industrial and domestic arts, as promoted at Tuskegee Institute. Struggles continued over the appropriate role of the college, a tension reflected in southern education during these years.
In 1900, Central Tennessee College was renamed Walden University in honor of Methodist Bishop John Morgan Walden
John Morgan Walden
John Morgan Walden was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He also gained notability as a newspaper editor and journalist, as a State Superintendent of Education in Kansas, as an officer in the Union Army, and as an Official in his Christian denomination.-Birth and family:John...
, who had served freedmen as a missionary after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The university then had thirteen departments and 68 faculty.
After the state established Tennessee Agricultural, Industrial, and Normal State School, now Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...
, in Nashville in 1912, Walden University had more trouble attracting students and struggled to reframe its mission. In addition, in response to lynchings and disfranchisement, many ambitious African Americans left Nashville and other southern areas in the Great Migration
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
to northern cities for work and more freedom. The percentage of black population in the city dropped sharply from its 40 percent in 1890. Due to other demographic influences and economic changes, by the 1970s, only 22 percent of the city was black.
In 1922, Walden University was renamed Walden College and was moved to a 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) campus overlooking the black neighborhood of Trimble Bottom. It served as a junior college, with pre-medical and pre-law programs among its offerings. Continuing financial difficulties forced its closing in 1925.
In 1935 the campus was leased by Trevecca Nazarene University
Trevecca Nazarene University
Trevecca Nazarene University is a private Christian liberal arts college located in Nashville, Tennessee.-History:TNU was founded in 1901 by Cumberland Presbyterian minister J. O. McClurkan as the "Pentecostal Literary and Bible Training School"...
, a private Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
institution affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, which purchased it in 1937.
Legacy
For more than three generations Walden University filled a critical need, serving freedmen and their descendants in the gaining of literacy and education, and training teachers, doctors and other professionals. Its departments in medicine and pharmacy (now part of Meharry Medical College) were the first for African Americans in the South. It also added departments for law and nursing.As the state gradually took on more responsibility and financing of education, the need for Walden as a private institution decreased. African Americans had more choices in colleges which they could attend.
Notable alumni
- Herman ChittisonHerman ChittisonHerman "Ivory" Chittison was an American jazz pianist.He began in Zack Whyte's band in 1928. In his early days he worked with Ethel Waters, Adelaide Hall, and Clarence Williams. In the mid-1930s he was associated with Willie Lewis's band and toured Europe with them...
, jazz pianist
(See Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, is a graduate and professional institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church whose mission is to educate healthcare professionals and scientists. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee...
for list of many notable medical alumni, including some from the historical period of affiliation with Walden University.)