'Ward Of The State': The Politics of Funding Maryland's Black Land-Grant College, 1886 - 193

The history of American higher education emphasizes the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 and Second Morrill Act of 1890 as the first federal appropriations provided specifically to expand the system of higher education. By the establishment of public institutions with the special mission of mechanical and agricultural education, these funds were what historian Samuel Shannon called the "legislative mechanism" for "the democratization of educational opportunity." Yet, under the direction of state legislations, the appropriation received from the selling of public lands was woefully and disproportionately distributed between historically White and Black colleges. Severe public funding disparities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries are the genesis of more than a century of state underfunding and undervaluing of Black colleges. Through the use of historical methodology, this history will examine the dissemination of appropriations from the Morrill Land-Grant, Hatch, and Smith-Lever Acts from Maryland to two of its Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), and Morgan State University. An examination of state to institution of higher education interaction provides insight into how local contexts and legislators exert power, control, and influence over public institutions of higher education that predominantly serve racialized minority students. The case study of Maryland will make a significant contribution to the scholarship of educational history, politics of education, and higher education. The findings of this study have broader implications for the politics of public higher education, especially as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) bring current lawsuits to their respective states for historical underfunding and maintenance of dual systems of higher education.