In 1890 congressional legislation opened a new chapter in the history of higher education by allocating public support for black Land-Grant colleges and universities.These institutions were established to provide training to blacks in the fields of agriculture, home economics, the mechanical arts, and other useful professions. For a century, these schools have assumed and continue to maintain a unique and important role in affording educational opportunities for thousands of students to whom no other doors would have been opened. A Century of Service is both a history and a celebration of these Land-Grant schools. The work also provides a presentation of views on how their original mission can best be adapted to the challenges of the future. The 1890 Land-Grant institutions are a legacy of what can be accomplished with little more than a determined, tenacious commitment to survive and excel. In spite of unequal financial support, they have succeeded in establishing and building quality resident academic and extension programs on a par with those of other colleges and universities not suffering the same economic limitations. As demonstrated throughout this volume, the 1890 institutions have amassed an impressive record of achievement in the areas of agricultural research, cooperative extension, development of rural communities' support systems, human resources development, resident instruction, international development, and technology and information transfer. In assessing the current state of the schools and looking to the future, the authors seek ways of building upon their strengths and traditions and explore alternative institutional designs to enhance the status and opportunities for African American agricultural scientists and professionals under quite new circumstances. A Century of Service will be of interest to social historians, black studies specialists, agricultural scientists, and educators.

A navy is a state's main instrument of maritime force. What it should do, what doctrine it holds, what ships it deploys, and how it fights are determined by practical political and military choices in relation to national needs. Choices are made according to the state's goals, perceived threat, maritime opportunity, technological capabilities, practical experience, and, not the least, the way the sea service defines itself and its way of war. This book is a history of the modern U.S. Navy. It explains how the Navy, in the century after 1890, was formed and reformed in the interaction of purpose, experience, and doctrine.

Black college football began during the nadir of African American life after the Civil War. The first game occurred in 1892, a little less than four years before the Supreme Court ruled segregation legal in Plessy v. Ferguson. In spite of Jim Crow segregation, Black colleges produced some of the best football programs in the country. They mentored young men who became teachers, preachers, lawyers, and doctors--not to mention many other professions--and transformed Black communities. But when higher education was integrated, the programs faced existential challenges as predominately white institutions steadily set about recruiting their student athletes and hiring their coaches. Blood, Sweat, and Tears explores the legacy of Black college football, with Florida A&M's Jake Gaither as its central character, one of the most successful coaches in its history. A paradoxical figure, Gaither led one of the most respected Black college football programs, yet many questioned his loyalties during the height of the civil rights movement. Among the first broad-based histories of Black college athletics, Derrick E. White's sweeping story complicates the heroic narrative of integration and grapples with the complexities and contradictions of one of the most important sources of Black pride in the twentieth century.