Lucy Diggs Slowe: Champion of the Self

Lucy Diggs Slowe: Champion of the Self-Determination of African-American Women in
Higher Education
Author(s): Linda M. Perkins
Source: The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 81, No. 1/4, Vindicating the Race: Contributions
to African-American Intellectual History (Winter - Autumn, 1996), pp. 89-104
Published by: Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2717610
Accessed: 24/03/2010 17:20
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LUCY DIGGS SLOWE: CHAMPION OF
THE SELF-DETERMINATION OF
AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
By
Linda M. Perkins*
While we are aware of the prominent African-Americanwomen educators of the
nineteenthand twentieth centuries who were teachers, principals, and school founders,
such as Fanny Jackson Coppin, Anna Julia Cooper, Lucy Laney, Charlotte Hawkins
Brown, and Mary McLeod Bethune; we know little of the role of African-American
women educators in higher education. Although African-Americanwomen educators
were largely representedin the public and private elementary and secondary schools
of the nation's black communities, African-Americanwomen also served on the faculties of selected historically black colleges from their inception and beginning with
Lucy Diggs Slowe, they served as administrators.
This essay will discuss the important contributions to higher education of Lucy
Diggs Slowe, the first African-Americanwoman dean at Howard University in Washington, D.C. (1922-37). An examinationof Slowe is importantnot only because of her
prominenceat Howard University, but also for the impact of her educational philosophy on the higher education of African-Americanwomen in general. As one of the
earliest black women formally trainedin studentpersonnel,during her fifteen year tenure at Howard, Slowe became an outspoken advocate for self-determination,respect,
and advancement of college-trained African-Americanwomen. Slowe took seriously
the charge that the educated members of the race should be in leadership positions.
She believed strongly that African-Americanwomen had a vital role to play in race
leadershipand, as a result, she sought to develop the leadership skills of black college
women. Slowe's leadership in black women's higher education resulted in the establishment of two importantorganizationsfor the advocacy of African-Americancollege
women - the National Association of College Women (NACW) and the National Association of Women's Deans and Advisors of Colored Schools (NAWDACS).
Slowe's educationaland racial philosophy concerning women is noteworthy because
unlike other prominentblack women educatorsof her era whose motivation and rhetoric were often religious, Slowe's desire to enhance black women's status was more
pragmaticthan spiritual. In addition, unlike many who often discussed educating women for the "uplift" and benefit of the race, Slowe wanted to prepareblack women
for the "modem" world, a term in vogue among white women educators of the period.' At the same time, members of NACW were also affiliated with international
* Linda M. Perkins is Associate Professor of Educationat HunterCollege, City University of New York.
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JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
groups and efforts for world peace, and Slowe believed that black women college students should be exposed to and active in such activities.2 While most in the black
community viewed teaching as a woman's highest calling, Slowe was very critical of
the view that female students should pursue teaching as a profession without providing
other options and career choices. As new employment opportunitiesopened for white
women, Slowe felt strongly that black women should be preparedfor and aware of
these fields as well. Thus, career guidance was an importantaspect of her studentpersonnel program.
Slowe was also unique in that she was extremely critical of the conservative religion to which most black women students were exposed in their families and communities. She believed strongly that such religion often contributedto the conservative and
sexist beliefs of many black families. She addressed all of these issues through her
work at Howard and with the NACW and the NAWDACS.
Slowe's Early Life
Lucy Diggs Slowe was born July 4, 1885 in Berryville, Virginia. Orphaned as a
young child, Slowe was raised by a paternalaunt, Martha Slowe Prince in Lexington,
Virginia. At age thirteen,Slowe and her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland,where
she attended the separate Colored High School, graduating second in her class in
1904. Following her graduation she entered Howard University on an academic
scholarship.
It was at Howard that Slowe's interest in enhancing the quality and status of African-American women's higher education was stimulated. She was active in virtually
every aspect of the university community and emerged as an outstanding leader on
campus, participatingin literary, musical, athletic, and social activities. She was vice
president and secretaryof the Alpha Phi LiterarySociety; the first president of Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first greek letter organizationfor black college women, and
president of the women's tennis club.3
In her senior year, Slowe was selected to chaperon other Howard women students
during off-campus shopping trips. Although her selection as a chaperon was a statement by Howard officials of her high moral characterand responsibility, years later as
dean, Slowe would criticize the assignment of chaperons to women students as paternalistic and demeaning.
Slowe graduatedfrom Howard in 1908 as class valedictorian and returned to her
old high school in Baltimoreto teach English. By 1915, Slowe had earned a MA from
Columbia University. She also studied at Teachers College in the emerging field of
Student Personnel. After serving for several years as the principal of the first junior
high school in Washington,D.C. for African-Americans,in 1922 she was appointed
the first black woman Dean at Howard University.4
CHAMPION OF SELF-DETERMINATION
91
Dean of Womenat Howard University and President of the National Association of
College Women(NACW)
Immediately after her appointmentat Howard, Slowe became president of the National Association of College Women. This organizationwas an outgrowthof the local
D.C. College Alumnae Club, founded in 1910. The College Alumnae Club consisted
of classically-trainedand highly educated African-Americanwomen who were graduates of the leading white institutions in the nation and the two fully accredited black
colleges, Howard and Fisk University. The organizationin many ways resembled the
white "Association of Collegiate Alumnae" (later the "American Association of University Women"), having the same admission requirements,namely a Bachelor of Arts
in art, science, philosophy, literature or music from any college recognized by the
American Council of Education and the Association of Collegiate Alumnae.5
As black colleges went from normal school status to full collegiate level, the number of women attending these institutions increased. The members of the College
Alumnae Club were concerned about the well-being of African-Americanwomen on
these campuses. Standardsand leadership for black college women were paramountissues of the NACW under Slowe's leadership. The NACW established a Committee of
Standardsto gather informationand to report on the quality of the academic programs
at black colleges. In 1923 the Committee made unofficial visits to coeducationalblack
colleges that had A or near A accreditation ratings. They assessed the campuses
(Howard, Wiley, Atlanta University, Shaw, Bishop, Talladega,VirginiaUnion, Wilberforce and Fisk University) in five areas: size of college enrollment,entrance and graduation requirements,faculty preparation,fiscal stability, equipmentand physical plants.
The Committee's report, completed in 1924, noted that Howard University had the
largest number and Fisk University had the largest percentageof students enrolled in
the "collegiate" division. The Committee pointed out that in the "high school departments" for the colleges, there was an overemphasis on study of the Bible, music, and
industrialtraining at the expense of college preparatorycourses. They also concluded
that the faculties of these institutionswere not well prepared.Of the nine colleges visited, only 16 faculty members had Ph.Ds, 11 of whom taught at Howard.6Although
the doctoral degree as an indication of excellence was increasingly being used by
white institutions and by accrediting agencies, the committee considered this as only
one measure of the quality of instructionavailable at these institutions.Finally, the report noted that athletic facilities for women students were poor on all these campuses.7
Questionnaireswere sent to all other black college presidents to obtain the same
data as that observed by the committee on the nine campuses surveyed. In addition,
the NACW questionnairessought information specific to female students in the areas
of health and medical care, athletics, and housing. The questionnairealso asked the
presidents to comment on the status of women faculty and students, specifically addressing salary equity and gender comparisons in promotions.8
The appointmentof well-trained deans of women on black college campuses was
also a major goal of Lucy Slowe and the NACW. As the first formally trained student
personnel dean on a black college campus, Slowe attemptedto convince the presidents
of the other black institutions that this position was an importantone and should be
92
JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
filled by a person formally trained with a BA degree in a relevant discipline, rather
than the traditional "matron" who was usually appointed to police the morals of the
women students. At Howard, Slowe starteda "Dean of Women's Club" and offered a
"Dean of Women" perspective to young women. The campus was used as a laboratory for the students and prominentwhite deans of women were brought to campus to
meet with them. 9
In her address to the 1923 NACW conference, Slowe noted that in addition to producing well-trained women deans, there were other importantgoals for the organization as well.
An important
taskof the NationalAssociationof CollegeWomenis thatof educationalstandards
to
meet those of the very best institutionsof our land.If a college acceptswomenstudentsand employs womenfaculty,it shouldgive themthe samestatusas it gives male studentsandmale teachers, respectively.10
Slowe's philosophy of education epitomized not only equality of the races, but gender
equality within the race.
So far as womenmembersof college facultiesare concerned,they shouldhave the sameopportunities for advancementthat male membershave and shouldreceive equal pay for equal services
rendered."
Slowe was greatly influenced by the leading white women authorities on student
personnel, especially Esther Lloyd-Jones, Harriet Hayes, and Sarah Sturtivant of
Teachers College, and Thyras Amos of the University of Pittsburgh. These scholars
emphasized the idea that residential housing for women should not be mere places to
reside, but centers for the development of the "total" woman, the "whole" student,
and women's leadership abilities. Slowe sought to bring this philosophy to Howard
and the campuses of other black colleges. Slowe commented that "adequate housing
should be made [available] for... women students for their physical and social development, as well as for the trainingof their minds."12Mary M. Carterin a study of the
formation of the National Association of College Women, concluded that Slowe,
"caught the vision of the pioneers in personnel work. Their beliefs became an irrepressible part of her philosophy and she fought until her death to translatethem into a
reality at Howard University and at other Negro colleges."'3
During her Deanship at Howard, Slowe was able to have established a "female"
campus with the building of three women's dormitoriesin 1931. It was her desire to
make living on campus mandatory,except for those women who were District of Columbia residents. This was importantfor molding characterand developing a sense of
community, fellowship, leadership, and independence.From her initial appointmentin
1923, Slowe was concerned that lack of resident housing for women limited her ability to coordinate and supervise the women's activities.14
The new residence halls enabled Slowe to enhance the women's cultural and leadership experiences. In an August 1932 article entitled "HowardWomen Run Themselves
in New Dorms," the WashingtonAfro-Americannoted the leadershipopportunitiesthat
the dormitoriesprovided the women. The article reportedthat the women students had
organized a "Students' House GovernmentAssociation" for the purpose of assuming
responsibility for the governance of the dorms and the women students' conduct
CHAMPIONOF SELF-DETERMINATION
93
within them.15The women students planned and sponsored musicals, teas and receptions, wrote book reviews, and held discussions on various topics.16
At the opening of the female campus, Slowe wrote an article in which she made
clear that the dormitoriesshould not be mere places to sleep, but cultural and educational environmentsas well. She believed that residence halls should be thought of as
homes, not prisons. She noted that the heads of the residence halls should be welltrainedacademic personnel with faculty status. In this belief as well as others concerning the higher education of African-Americansin general and the women in particular,
Slowe forcefully argued that black youth deserved the best qualified people to serve
them. She noted that the headmastersof Harvardand Yale were men of "fine character, dynamic personalities,and of fine teaching ability. Their task of directing the lives
of the group of college men in their several houses is similar to the task of directing
the classroom activities of the group." This was the model that she planned to replicate at Howard for the women students. She stated that "since the problems of individual and group life must be approachedfrom the standpointof sound principles of
psychology and sociology, there has been placed at the head of each hall of residence
at Howard University an experienced member of the faculty." Each director of residence on the women's campus taught one class every day.17
Slowe sought to impartthe notion of leadership development, which was an expectation for black male students, to the female students as well. The NACW questionnaire to black college presidents inquired about what was being done on their campuses to prepareblack women for leadership.The Committee discovered that less than
50 percent of the colleges gave students, male or female, any role in self-governance.
Only 27 percent of the colleges reportedhaving student councils. These data were disturbingto Slowe. She believed that self-governmentwas "vital to the development of
good citizens." She was critical of the administratorsand faculty members who made
most of the rules that students were expected to follow.'8 As this related to women in
particular, Slowe asked, "have those who formulate the policies of institutions of
higher learning where Negro women study surveyed our changed modem life and consciously attempted to prepare Negro college women for intelligent participationand
leadership in it?"'9
In an article written in 1933 on the higher education of African-Americanwomen,
Slowe devoted one section to "Trainingfor Self-Direction." She stated, "whether or
not Negro college women will be able to take their places as leaders in their communities depends, to a large extent, upon the opportunitiesoffered them for exercising initiative, independence,and self-directionwhile in college."20At Howard, Slowe put in
motion various opportunitiesfor the women students to participatein decision-making
and leadership roles. She instituted the Women Students' League, an organizationto
which all Howard women students automaticallybelonged upon registering at the university. The purpose of the group was to develop student leadership. The League was
comprised of various committees to "increase fellowship and intelligent leadershipon
the campus and in the community."21 The group sponsored an annual Women's Dinner
which became a prominentevent on campus. The dinner featureda distinguishedAfrican-American woman as the main speaker. The students planned the entire event,
which was attendedby Howard students and graduates.The League also planned and
arrangeda Christmas Vesper Service and student services on Palm Sunday as well.
94
JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
Each May the League sponsored a women's festival. These large events were accompanied by other activities, such as currentevents discussions, coffee hours, and invited
lectures and discussions by faculty as well as noted individuals from outside the
campus.22
In addition to providing the women students opportunitiesto plan their own events
and social activities, Slowe also provided them with opportunities for selfdetermination.Slowe had the name of the "Discipline Committee" in the residence
hall for women, in existence when she arrived at Howard, changed to "House GovernmentAssociation." The prior name sounded punitive, while the latter indicated policy-making. Slowe also replaced the student female chaperon with "mentors." In
describing the Mentor System at Howard to a female colleague, Slowe stated that "to
be chosen a mentor is about the highest honor that can be given a woman student at
Howard University duringher senior year and the students seem to covet the honor."23
Each Spring female members of the sophomore and senior classes were asked to select members of the junior class that they deemed worthy of being a mentor to the
women freshmanentering the following year. The students selected mentors based on
specific criteria. Slowe noted that the judgments of the students were usually sound.
Once the mentors for the academic year were selected, they were assigned books to
read during the summerand counselled on the qualities of a good adviser and leader.24
The seniors chosen as mentors were assigned four to five freshman women as their
mentees. The assigning of the students to their mentors was held annually in a Greek
ceremony which ended with the freshman women's hands being placed in those of
their mentors. The mentors were then charged with guiding their charges along the
right path. Throughthe course of the year, the senior mentor helped to work out any
problems or challenges the assigned freshmen encountered.25
Hilda Davis, a Howard graduatein 1925, recalled that she was one of the first women chosen as a mentor after Slowe arrived on campus in 1922 and the experience
had a profoundimpact on her. She recalled that Dean Slowe had high expectations of
the women students and had leading women personnel deans visit Howard and work
with the mentors. As a result, this sparked Davis' interest in student personnel work.
After obtaining a masters from Radcliffe and taking a course for Deans of Women at
Boston University, Davis obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and became a prominentDean of Women and ultimately the president of the NACW.26
Another studentof Dean Slowe's also recalled the impact student leadership had on
her future career. Thelma Preyer Bando, who also became a prominent Dean of Women, stated that while at Howard she was president of the University's chapter of the
Young Women's ChristianAssociation (YWCA). The YWCA operatedthe university's
Canteen, the campus snack shop. Bando recalled that the person in charge scheduled
the women students' work hours, assured that the Canteen was opened on time,
checked the stock, balanced the financial statements, and turned in the money collected. Slowe was so impressed with the mannerin which Bando ran the Canteen that
she would have her escort around campus the various women administratorswho frequently visited Howard. Bando noted that when she graduated from Howard, Dean
Slowe arrangedfor her to get a scholarship to Columbia to study student personnel.
However, when a job opened at Virginia Seminary in Lynchburgfor an assistant Dean
of Women, Slowe urged her to accept the position to obtain experience. In addition to
CHAMPIONOF SELF-DETERMINATION
95
being an assistant Dean of Women, Bando would also become the head of the Department of Education at the institution. Slowe felt such experience would be important
for Bando's later career advancement. Bando went to Teacher's College in 1936 to
study Student Personnel and became Dean of Women at Morgan State College in
1942.27
The National Association of Women'sDeans and Advisors of Colored Schools
Throughout the 1920s Slowe sought to develop the women's leadership skills at
Howard University, and by 1929 there were enough women who were serving in various capacities as advisors and deans of women at other black colleges for her to call a
meeting of this group. The women met at Howard in conjunction with the annual
meeting of the National Association of College Women. At the meeting of the deans
and student advisors, Slowe outlined the primary topics of concern for women on
black college campuses - housing conditions, health, the broad education of women,
women administratorsand their relationship to the entire school administration,the
salaries of women personnel, opportunitiesfor advancement,and the need for a chief
administratorin charge of all of the women's affairs. In essence Slowe was concerned
with the total development and equality of African-Americanwomen on these campuses at all levels.28
The women who worked in student affairs on black college campuses found the
new organizationa godsend. This group afforded them the opportunityto discuss the
myriad issues pertainingto black women college students and also provided them the
camaraderieand expertise of one another.
Her plan was for the NACW and the NAWDACS to become to black women in
higher education what the AAUW was to white college women.29 However, these
groups could not simply be professional organizations, but also had to work for the
vindication of black women students on college campuses aroundthe country. The paternalistic attitudes and moral strictures placed on women students came out of the
nineteenth century stereotypes about black women. The results were infringements
upon their independence and freedom and prevented them from maturing and taking
advantage of all that college life had to offer. Slowe worked to change these conditions and gained the respect of African-Americanwomen in higher education and the
prominentwhite women student personnel scholars and deans. African-Americanwomen who worked in student personnel on black college campuses, as well as white
women student personnel officers who worked with black women students on their
campuses, sought Slowe's advice and counsel. Her stature as an outstandingleader in
student personnel resulted in her being invited to speak at the predominately white
National Association of Women Deans in 1931, the first African-Americanto address
this group.30
96
JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
Self-Determinationof WomenStudents
At Howard, as elsewhere on black college campuses, black women were subjected
to strict rules and regulationsregardingtheir behavior and movement on and off campus. Although male students also had restrictionson these campuses, it was the black
female whose presence was closely watched. On this matter,Slowe became an outspoken advocate for treatingblack women students with trust and respect. She stated that
the administrationsof most black colleges believed that the women students should be
"shielded and protected"to such an extent that the most intimate phases of their lives
were invaded by rules and regulations.31She cited as an example the rule that women
students could not leave the campus without the presence of a dean or her representative. In her 1929 address to the newly formed NAWDACS Slowe pointed out that
black women have had little input in determiningthe policies that they had to follow
on black college campuses. She believed the aim of the organizationshould be the full
development of black women, and not just to change the petty rules and regulations
concerning their behavior.In 1931 speaking at Teachers College, Columbia University
Slowe pointed out, "when a college woman cannot be trusted to go shopping without
a chaperon, she is not likely to develop powers of leadership."32During her tenure at
Howard, she sought to eradicate such demeaning rules. Slowe noted that at Howard,
women students governed themselves.
Rules have been reduced to a minimum and personal honor and responsibility increased to a maximum. The directorsand studentofficers emphasize the fact that every resident has in her keeping the
good name of the group of which she is a part. The development of personal responsibilityfor good
government is a valuable social characteristicboth in and out of college; hence much attention is
paid to this question of self-government.33
Slowe's desire to empower black women students and faculty put her at odds with
Howard's first black president, Mordecai Johnson. Johnson, an ordained Baptist
preacher and a graduateof the all-male Morehouse College, was appointed president
in 1926. Although he hired many black women for the faculty at Howard, he held
traditionaland paternalisticviews. He rejected Slowe's views on gender equality and
the empowering of women and was somewhat appalled by her liberal attitudes towards women in general. Within months of his arrival, and until her death in 1937,
Johnson and Slowe had consistent clashes concerning her role, authority, equitable
pay, and the overall status of women at Howard.
Slowe repeatedlyvoiced the need for African-Americanwomen to be in control of
their lives and to develop leadershipskills. Johnson was no doubt offended by Slowe's
criticism of the traditionalblack church and its teaching. On this subject she observed:
Much of the religious philosophy upon which Negro women have been nurturedhas tended toward
suppressing in them their own powers. Many of them have been brought up on the antiquatedphilosophy of Saint Paul in reference to women's place in the scheme of things, and all too frequently
have been influenced by the philosophy of patient waiting, rather than the philosophy of developing
their talents to their fullest extent... Under these conditions, it is inevitable, therefore, that the psychology of most of the women who come to college is the psychology of accepting what is taught
without much question; the psychology of inaction ratherthan that of active curiosity.34
CHAMPIONOF SELF-DETERMINATION
97
Slowe also believed that in many black families conservative attitudesconcerning gender roles were also impedimentsto the advancementof the modern African-American
college woman.
Frequently,Negro college women come from homes where conservatism in reference to women's
place in the world of the most extreme sort exists. Regardless of the fact that modem conditions
have forced many women to be economically, politically, and socially independent, many parents
still believe that the definition of women found in an eighteenth century dictionary is true today:
"Woman,the female of man. See man." Regardless of the wish of many parentsthat their daughters
become adjuncts of "man," modem life forces them to be individuals in much the same sense as
men are individuals.35
From the various topics included on the NAWDACS annual programs during the
1930s, women's preparationfor the "modern" world was a recurring theme. Social
activism and involvement in women's and world issues were also to be encouraged.In
1930, the group polled each delegate to determine the extent that women students on
the respective campuses were involved in national women's organizations.36
VocationalGuidance
Slowe was concerned that most African-American women college students were
planning to become teachers. She cited a study conducted by the Committee on Standards of the NACW which found that most African-Americanwomen college students
were not taking courses that would prepare them for the "modern" world. Slowe believed that more courses in political science, economics, psychology, sociology should
be offered, and that vocational guidance was necessary so that black women would
recognize the need to enroll in them.37Slowe often recounted a story of an unnamed
college president (in all likelihood Mordecai Johnson) who, when approached about
offering more social sciences courses for women students, replied that "he wanted the
women of his institution to be trained to be good wives and mothers, therefore, he
was not concerned about their taking courses in such 'male subjects' as economics,
political science, and sociology."38
At Howard, Slowe argued for funds to employ a vocational counselor for the women students.In a letter to presidentJohnson, she wrote: "It is still my belief that the
five hundred women in the undergraduatedivision of Howard University should be
studied carefully to discover their vocational aptitudes, their present academic programs, and their possibilities in the various vocations open to women."39Seeking a
highly trainedand qualified person, Slowe informed presidentJohnson that this was a
researchposition and would require a specialist in the field. Since Slowe and Johnson
were light-yearsapartin what they viewed as priorities for women students, this position was not funded.
The National Association of College Women did attempt to effect and improve the
curricularofferings at black colleges. The surveys regardingthe availability of courses
in new fields of employment, such as library science, social work, pre-school training,
and personnel work, demonstratedto NACW members that African-Americanwomen
were not being prepared for these fields. In 1930, the NACW approached Howard
University about offering courses in social work. Slowe attemptedfrom 1931 to 1935
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JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
to have such courses offered. Finally, in 1935 Howard began offering courses in social
service through its sociology department.It was not until 1945 that an autonomous
School of Social Work was established at Howard.40
Challenges at Howard
Administrativeauthoritywas one of the issues that Slowe addressed head on with
her appointmentat Howard. She made it clear that women administratorsshould be
invested with the same authority as male administrators.In a letter written January
1923 to J. Stanley Durkee, Howard's president, Slowe informed him that all matters
related to the discipline of women students should be referred to her, otherwise, she
believed that she would be a "non-entity in the University."41
In the Durkee administration,Slowe was a member of the President's Council of
Deans, a position she lost in the Johnson administration.Slowe's role in the management of the residence halls was transferredto the treasurerof the University. To further humiliate her, Johnson ordered Dean Slowe in 1933 to move from her home in
suburbanD. C. to Howard's campus to supervise the women on campus.42This move
in essence reduced her to the position of "matron," one against which she frequently
lectured. Finally, in 1933 in what was touted as an economy measure, the entire women's program that Slowe had built during the first eleven years of her tenure was
dismantled. The women's physician, dietician, and director of dormitories, who was
also an assistant to the Dean of Women, were fired.43Protesting these actions to the
Board of Trustees, Slowe told them:
When the Trustees, in the interest of economy, wiped out of the women's departmentevery key person except for two-the Dean of Women and the assistant to the Dean of Women also in charge of
one of the dormitories,they destroyed, in one day, practically everything that I had built up over a
period of eleven years. The action of the board will set the women's interests at the University back
to the time when we had no physician to the women and had to call in to attend women any woman
practicing in the city whom we could get. It set the food service back to the time when no trained
dietician was in charge of this service and when the close connection between academic success and
adequatediet was not recognized. In eliminating from the staff of the Dean of Women a dormitory
directorwho has been assisting in the general work with the students, the board has reduced the staff
to such an extent that it will be almost impossible to function in the many ways that the Dean of
Women's departmentis called upon to function.44
Variousalumnae as well as membersof the National Association of College Women
also wrote letters of protest to the chairman of the Howard Board of Trustees. The
NACW's executive committee unsuccessfully attempted to meet with Howard's
Board.45While some deplored the cutback in staff, all of the letters condemned the
fact that the Dean of Women, but not the Dean of Men, was being requiredto live on
campus. One letter stated, "the Dean of Men has been left undisturbedin his own
home. This discriminationis being interpretedby many as a reflection upon the women of the University."46Another also asked, "Why has this order been issued to the
dean of women and not to the dean of men? The women of the country do not look
with favor on such discrimination....Are the women of the university so lawless that
they need the presence of the dean?"47One writer noted what was obvious - that the
CHAMPIONOF SELF-DETERMINATION
99
move was a personal vendetta:"To hear of what appears to be personal persecutionin
the efforts to take her out of her home is heartbreaking.She has done too much for us
to see this go on without protestingmost vigorously."48
Finally, another prominent African-American woman commented to the Howard
Board:
To demand...that the dean live on the campus seems to reflect upon the women students of Howard...We, as colored people, do not play merely to a colored audience. Certainly it would be most
unfortunatepublicly to stigmatize the women of our largest institution of higher education as unfit
for the measure of self-government granted the men of that institution. If in 1933 they require a
closer supervision than was thought necessary ten years ago, certainly it must be that they are retrogradingratherthan progressingin the dignity and strengthof self-control. Such a change in policy
would certainly reflect most unfortunatelyupon the women of our race. All thoughtfulmen and women of the Negro race must be concerned over the situation and interested in a definite statement
from you of your reasons for making a change, serious in its implications, not only to Howard men
and women, but to colored men and women everywhere.49
Withoutquestion, this action was an insult to Slowe as well as to African-American
women students. One of the cornerstones of Slowe's philosophy of being a dean of
women was that this was a professional position, and not one of a caretakeror matron. This was the model she wanted to establish. Johnson disagreed and sought to
contain the privileges and status of women at Howard. While many women, black and
white, wrote letters in support of Dean Slowe, her records did not include any from
men.
Despite Slowe's problems at Howard, she continued her work on behalf of black
women in higher education nationally.The NACW as well as the NAWDACS continued to meet annually and discuss current issues concerning raising the standardsand
helping African-Americanwomen and girls progress educationally. From their first
meeting at Howard in 1929 through 1937, the year of Slowe's death, the NAWDACS
continued to meet in conjunction with the NACW. The groups met at various black
colleges, including Howard, Talladega,Tuskegee, Hampton, Wilberforce,and Bennett.
As the years progressed,the membershipof the NAWDACS grew and in 1935, it became an independentorganizationand elected Lucy Slowe as its first presidents
The topics discussed during the 1930s were those that Slowe had defined as important: qualifications and activities of the dean of women, the academic standards of
black colleges; health issues for college women, vocational, social adjustment, and
housing issues; self-government and leadership; sororities and extra-curricularactivities; and the relationshipof the dean of women to other administratorson campus. In
all of these issues, Howard was generally considered the model. Housing, the mentors
program,and the Women's League were repeatedly discussed. Slowe's approachto extra-curricularactivities for women was viewed as the model as well. While many
other women provided input, it was clear that Slowe was the guiding force and expert
on student personnel issues. Moreover, Slowe encouraged the research of the two organizationson black women college students and conducted similar studies at Howard.
These data were used as evidence of the specific needs of African-Americancollege
women.51
In the fall of 1937, Lucy Slowe became ill. She died in October of that year of kidney failure. Her death was a devastatingblow to the members of both the NACW and
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JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
the NAWDACS as well as to the larger community of African-Americanwomen in
higher education. As the position of Dean of Women developed on the black college
campuses throughthe years of Slowe's leadership in these two organizations,she was
constantlyconsulted and updatedon the work on other campuses. The notion that woman should be self-determiningand independentdid not penetratemany of the black
college campuses until much later. One newly appointed dean of women wrote to
Slowe in 1932 about her great anticipation of attending the next NAWDACS conference. "I, too, am very anxious that I see you and others in the field of deanship. This
is my first year in the work. At times I feel quite discouragedand wonder if the sacrifice and worry in this direction is worthwhile. Then, again, I realize the need and see
the possibilities and opportunitiesfor development here and take fresh courage."52Another new dean of women wrote Slowe in 1937 that "Since beginning my work [at
Tuskegee], I realize that it is now that I need some of your good sound advice and
judgment." The woman informed Slowe of her staffing decisions and added that she
had helped to organize a student government. She said that the Women's Department
at Tuskegee had not changed since the era of former president Booker T. Washington,
who died in 1915. She found that Tuskegee was "essentially a man's school."53
Likewise, white deans of women also consulted Slowe on issues relating to AfricanAmerican students. In 1930, the Dean of Women from Boston University (BU) wrote
to consult about whether African-Americanwomen students should be housed in their
own separatecottages. She pointed out that members of the Boston African-American
community had met with BU officials and requested that black students should be
housed with white ones. "May I have your reaction to this question? I know you will
look at it from the standpointof an educator and one who considers the welfare and
happiness of the girl herself."54Slowe responded to this dean in a two and one-half
page letter informing her in a very straight-forward,yet extremely professional and
thoughtfulway that African-Americanstudents were students and therefore should not
be treated differently than any others. Slowe had read of BU's housing problems in
the newspapers.
I think that we should keep in mind always in dealing with human beings the fact that first of all
they are individuals and that they should be dealt with on the basis of their individual worth rather
than on the basis of accident of race. I think it is most importantfor educationalinstitutions to take
this point of view, for their primaryreason for existing is to develop individuals to their highest degree of excellenc[e]. If we lay down this principle first and adhere to it we are not likely to make
mistakes when situations of the kind that you now face come up. I realize, of course, that there are
certain practicalconsiderationsthat administratorshave to be mindful of, but I think that they ought
to also be mindful of the fundamentalprinciple which I have laid down above...This specific matter
of what position Boston University should take in the housing of its women students should, in my
judgment, be dealt with in reference to the above mentioned principle. I feel that Negro girls should
be housed in the dormitorieswith all other girls. In the first place, if the other girls of the University
have prejudices,it is the business of the University to rid them of these prejudices as a part of their
liberal education. This can be done by giving them social experience with members of various
races. . .
In the second place, the Negro girl should be made to feel that the University is a place where all
studentsare considered as individuals and where each individual may contributewhatever there is in
him regardlessof what race he belongs to. Under no circumstancesshould the University suggest to
the Negro student that it looks upon him in any other way than as a worthy individual who is an
CHAMPIONOF SELF-DETERMINATION
101
integralpartof the Universityfamily.To suggestthatthe Negrogirl is so differentthatshe cannot
live withotherstudentsis to suggestto herthatbecauseof race,andnot becauseof individualworth
or lack of it, she mustbe set apart.I do not feel thata real Universitycouldpossiblytakesucha
on accountof race.If an individualis unworthyto
position.Thereshouldbe no taintof segregation
be a memberof the Universityfamilythatindividualshouldbe eliminatedfromthe University.5
Slowe continued her letter by citing the numerous white colleges that housed African-Americanstudents with whites, including Oberlin, Wellesley, and Smith College.
Slowe closed her letter by stating:
It is my opinionthatyou couldveryeasilyputa few Negrogirls in eachone of yourcottagesto the
profitof the white studentsas well as to the coloredstudents.By so doingyou wouldbe demonstratingthatBostonUniversityis in trutha Universityandthatit is interestedin the highestdevelopto friendly
ment of its individualstudents.Furthermore,
you wouldbe makinga real contribution
race relationships,
which is one of our most pressingsocial problemsat the presenttime. Finally,
not only of youruniversity,but of the stateof Massayou wouldbe upholdingthosefine traditions
chusetts,the cradleof Americanliberty.56
This final sentence to the white dean at Boston University demonstratedvintage
Slowe. Her reference to Massachusettsbeing the "cradle of liberty" and BU being a
great institutionwith "fine traditions"served to have the dean reflect on the irony and
irrationallyof racism.
Slowe did not hesitate to address issues of racism as well as sexism. When the
white National Association of Deans held its meeting in New Orleans in 1937 and informed their African-Americanmembers that if they attended, they would have to use
the back hotel entrance and freight elevators, be seated separately in meetings, and be
excluded from attendance at the meal sessions, Slowe wrote a letter of protest. She
told the president of the organizationthat "no self-respecting person could attend a
meeting under these conditions." She wrote that the time had come for the organization to take a definite stand on "not having meetings in places where any part of their
membershipwill be open to insult." As various organizationshad already taken such
a stand, Slowe closed by stating, "I am hoping that this is the last time that an educational organization,such as we represent,will lend its aid or its influence in perpetuating customs which are an insult to a national body of American citizens."57
Conclusion
During her lifetime, Lucy Diggs Slowe was the most influential person in AfricanAmerican women's higher education. She devoted her entire life to bringing meaning,
respect, and importanteducational opportunitiesto women students. She headed two
organizationswhose purposes were to study, research, and enhance the academic standards and conditions of African-Americanwomen on black college campuses. She is
rememberedas a refined professional woman who did not hesitate to confront anyone
on behalf of the respect and dignity of African-Americanwomen. She focused primarily on issues of gender and the limitations that society (and the black community)
placed on being female. None of her speeches were laced with themes of "race uplift," although she was definitely a "race" woman. In a speech in 1935, she declared
that "We are not going to solve our problems by looking at them as Negro problems.
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JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
Our problems are human problems. If the Negro is to get anywhere, it will be by associating his problemwith other problems."58Nor were her speeches and writings full
of religious language, although she was a religious person. Religion was something
that Slowe lived ratherthan talked about. Slowe viewed the talents and capabilities of
African-Americanwomen as so great in potential that they should be shared with the
world and not just their race. She was very interested in internationalaffairs and relations and sought to interest African-Americanwomen students in these areas as well.
Her aim was to preparethem for the "modem" world. She wanted African-American
women students to aspire to leadership, to become scholars, researchers, activists
against social injustice, and to reject the limits that society placed upon them.
Despite Slowe's vision to prepareAfrican-Americanwomen for the modem world,
before and after her death, black women students and faculty members continued to
be treatedunequally on black college campuses. At Howard, Slowe was never able to
get a salary that was comparable to her experience and education. She constantly
pointed out the gender inequity in her salary and in her working conditions. After her
death, oppressive and demeaningrules and regulations continuedfor African-American
women college students until the era of student activism of the late 1960s.
The issues of leadership and self-determinationhave remained importantones for
African-Americanwomen. The National Association of College Women and the National Association of Deans and Advisors of Women in Colored Schools worked
throughoutthe 1930s to make these goals realities. The Call sent out for the annual
conferences held by the NACW proclaimed its purpose: "The organization has devoted itself to the study of living conditions for women and college students and to
the raising of educationalstandardsin colleges, with special emphasis upon the introduction into the curricula of courses to meet the needs of modem life."59 Under
Slowe's leadership, these women demonstratedself-determinationand courage. They
challenged decisions made by college presidents and trustees, and wrote letters of protest to accreditationagencies when necessary. As scholarly women, they established a
journal, conducted research, and wrote articles concerning African-Americanwomen
in higher education.It is importantthat the younger generationsunderstandthe contributions and struggles of Lucy Diggs Slowe and other black women for an equal place
in American higher education.
NOTES
See for example Joyce Antler's biography of Lucy Sprague Mitchell, one of the earliest deans of women. Joyce Antler, Lucy Sprague Mitchell: The Making of a Modern Woman(Yale University Press, 1987).
2 For more details on the National Association of
College Women see Linda Perkins' " The National Association of College Women: Vanguardof Black Women's Leadershipand Education, 1923-1954" in Journal of Education 172, (No. 3, 1990): 65-75.
3 Washington,DC, Howard University, The Hilltop, December 11, 1930.
4 WashingtonTribune,June 17, 1922.
5 Proceedings of the Conference of College Women by the College Alumnae Club of Washington,DC.
Journal of the National Association of College Women(1923): 8.
6 Vivian Cook, " Report of the Committee on Standards,"Journalof the National Association of College
Women(1925): 43-49.
7 Ibid.
CHAMPION OF SELF-DETERMINATION
8
103
Ibid.
9 Washington,D.C., Howard University, The Hilltop, May 14, 1931.
10Ibid., p. 27.
" Ibid.
12
New York, The World,April 25, 1926.
13 Mary M. Carter, "The EducationalActivities of the National Association of College Women, 1923-
1960" (unpublishedM. Ed. thesis, Howard University, 1962), p. 46.
14
Ibid.
15
WashingtonAfro-American,August 20, 1932.
16
Ibid.
Lucy Diggs Slowe, "The Dormitory - A Cultural Influence," Journal of the National Association of
College Women(1931-32): 11-14.
18 Lucy Diggs Slowe, "The Higher Education of Negro Women," Journal of Negro Education 2
(July
1933): 352-58.
19 Ibid., p. 334.
17
20
21
Ibid.,p. 335.
Ibid.
22
Ibid. For informationon the African-Americans'overall concern for self-determination,see V.P. Franklin, Black Self-Determination:A CulturalHistory of African-AmericanResistance (Brooklyn, NY: Lawrence
Hill Books, 1992).
23 Letter, Lucy Diggs Slowe to JuanitaSaddler, November 16, 1933, Howard University, MoorlandSpingarn, Lucy D. Slowe Collection. (Howard, Slowe Collection).
24
25
Ibid.
Ibid.
26
Hilda Davis, private interview with the author, Newark, Delaware, June 15, 1987.
Thelma Preyer Bando, private interview with the author, Baltimore, Maryland,June 8, 1987.
28
National Association of Women's Deans and Advisors of Colored Schools, Minutes of Conference held
March 21-22, 1930, Fisk, Slowe Collection.
27
29
Ibid.
30 Detroit People's News, March 1, 1931.
31 Slowe, "The
Higher Educationof Negro Women," p. 357.
32
Lucy D. Slowe, "The Educationof Negro Women and Girls," Speech given at Teachers College, Columbia University, March 11, 1931, reprintedin the Memorial Edition of the Journal of the National Association of College Womenby the College Alumnae Club of Washington,p. 14.
33 Slowe, "The Dormitory- A CulturalInfluence," p. 14.
34
Slowe, "Higher Educationof Negro Women," p. 357.
35
Ibid., p. 356.
36 Minutes of the Conference of the National Association of Women's Deans and Advisors of Colored
Women, 1930.
37
Slowe, "The Educationof Negro Women and Girls," p. 13.
38
Ibid.
39 Letter, Lucy Diggs Slowe to PresidentMordecai Johnson, December 16, 1931, Fisk, Slowe Collection.
40 Carter, "The EducationalActivities of the National Association of College Women," p. 39.
Letter, Lucy Diggs Slowe to J. Stanley Durkee, January22, 1923, Fisk, Slowe Collection.
On this incident see the numerousletters in the Lucy D. Slowe Collection at Fisk.
43
Lucy Diggs Slowe to Howard University Board of Trustees April 26, 1933 in Howard, Slowe Papers.
44
Ibid.
45
Letters, Eva Holmes, JuanitaHoward, Coralie Cook, Charlotte Atwood and Alice Nelson Williams to
Dr. AbrahamFlexner, Chairmanof the Howard Board of Trustees, October 4, 1933; Howard, Slowe Collection; Letter, AbrahamFlexner to Eva Holmes, October 11, 1933, ibid.
46 Letters, Eva Mae Holmes, Presidentof the College Alumnae Club, Raleigh, North Carolina,Louise R.
Williams, Howard Club, Raleigh, North Carolina and Louise Pearson Hayes, Howard University, Class of
1932 to Jesse E. Moorland, Chairmen of the Board of Trustees of Howard University, no date, Howard,
Slowe Collection.
41
42
104
JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
47 Letter to Jesse Moorland, Chairmanof the Board of Trustees of Howard
University, no signature, no
date, Howard, Slowe Collection.
48
Letter, Marion Wright to Jesse Moorland, Trustee of Howard University, August 31, 1933, Howard,
Slowe Collection.
49 Letter, CharlotteAtwood to the Howard
University Board of Trustees, September 25, 1933, Howard,
Slowe Papers.
50 See minutes from the conference programsfrom 1929-1937, Howard, Slowe Papers.
51 Ibid.
52
Letter, Willie M. King, Dean of Women, State A and M College, Orangeburg,South Carolinato Lucy
Diggs Slowe, 9 February1932, Howard, Slowe Papers.
53 Letter, Ida Jackson, Dean of Women,
Tuskegee Institute to Lucy Diggs Slowe, 31 July 1937, Howard,
Slowe Papers.
54 Letter,
Lucy Jenkins Franklin, Dean of Women, Boston University to Lucy Diggs Slowe, July 11,
1930, Howard, Slowe Papers.
55 Letter, Lucy Diggs Slowe to Lucy Jenkins Franklin, Boston University, 12 November 1930, Howard,
Slowe Papers.
56 Ibid.
57 Letter, Lucy Diggs Slowe to Irma Voight, President of the National Association of Deans and Advisors
of Women, February12 1936, Howard, Slowe Papers.
58
Speech, "Our Future,"delivered by Lucy Diggs Slowe to the 1935 conference of the National Association of Deans and Advisors of Women in Colored Schools, reprintedin the 1935 minutes of the conference, Howard, Slowe Papers.
59 See various NAWDACS calls
to convention from the 1930s, Howard, Slowe Papers.