| The purpose of this dissertation is to describe and analyze the practice of religious education at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute from its inception in 1868 through 1917, the year of the second principal's (Hollis B. Frissell) passing. This study includes the formal religious education programs of the Institute, especially its Memorial Church---a non-denominational, non-sectarian, Christian church from its inception in 1869. Particular attention is given to the informal structures of campus life, which served as added dimensions of Christian education, and specific note is taken of such components as particular persons, aims, methods, and content of religious education.;While similar colleges and schools for blacks in the post-Civil War era were formed by various Christian denominations for the religious training and education of newly-freed slaves, Hampton has never been affiliated with a particular denomination, though it has always been decidedly Christian. This distinction places Hampton in a unique position to be studied for its approach to the religious education of African Americans, in that its original purpose was intended exclusively for blacks and in a non-denominational context. Both the founder, General Samuel Chapman Armstrong, and his successor, Dr. Hollis Burke Frissell, worked to ensure what is known to Hamptonians as an "Education for Life", which includes the head (the intellect), hand (manual training), and heart (moral or religious training); the latter being the primary focus of this study.;In studying the history of religious education at Hampton Institute during the first forty-nine years of its existence, the writer raises the following primary question: What were the aims, purposes, and methods, of religious education as espoused by General Armstrong and Rev. Frissell? Secondary questions include, "How did religious education contribute to the overall, three-part general purposes and aims of education at Hampton? What methods were used and what educational theories lay behind this vision of education and religious education?" Answers to these questions point toward a more detailed understanding of Hampton Institute's religious education program as espoused by Hampton's first two principals, Samuel Chapman Armstrong and Hollis Burke Frissell. |
