Black associations with Christianity in North America date as far back as the arrival of the first enslaved Africans at Winyah Bay, South Carolina in 1526. While Black involvement in North American Christianity permeated all denominations, arguably the most extensive tie has been to the Baptist church. The earliest Black Baptist congregation is said to have formed on the William Byrd plantation of Petersburg, Virginia in 1756. The colonial Baptist church tended toward the establishment of independent Black churches, but such sentiment was almost entirely erased in the post-colonial era as the slave society solidified. Southern Baptist churches required Blacks, free or enslaved, to sit in the back pews and enter through separate entrances. Blacks were also prohibited from assuming leadership positions in the church. Even Black congregations had to be led by a White pastor. This was in accordance with Virginia law of the time, which prohibited Blacks from preaching or congregating:
- Be it enacted by the general assembly, That no slave, free negro or mulatto, whether he shall have been ordained and licensed, or otherwise, shall hereafter undertake to preach, exhort or conduct, or hold any assembly or meeting, for religious or other purposes, either in the day time, or at night; and any slave, free negro, or mulatto, so offending, shall for every such offence, be punished with stripes, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, not exceeding thirty-nine lashes; and any person desiring so to do, shall have authority, without any previous written precept or otherwise, to apprehend any such offender and carry him before such justice.
Naturally, Black congregants yearned to be free of these restrictions and sought to establish an independent Baptist structure. So in 1867 several Black preachers met in Portsmouth, Virginia to establish the Virginia State Baptist Convention, the Black counterpart to the American Baptist Home Mission Society. The idea was to incorporate a church governing structure to best serve the needs of the growing number of Black Baptist churches in the state of Virginia.
The growth of the Black Baptist church in Virginia necessitated the training of people to enter the ministry. So, in 1886 at the 19th annual session of the Virginia Baptist State Convention, Rev. P.F. Morris of Court Street Baptist Church in Lynchburg introduced a resolution to authorize the creation of a coeducational institution to train ministers and teachers. The school would be named the Lynchburg Baptist Seminary, and it was the first institution of higher education in Lynchburg. Black attorney James H. Hayes was hired to obtain the charter for the school. Hayes would later be involved in many high profile cases and causes, including working with Susan B. Anthony in 1903 to espouse the moral and legal imperative to extend voting rights to Blacks and women. The Lynchburg Baptist Seminary opened with 33 students and operated under the “self-help” philosophy, hiring Black administrators and faculty to lead the institution. This was somewhat at odds with the practices of the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, and it caused a social and theological divide in the Baptist church that has persisted even to this day. Upon offering a collegiate program, the school changed its name to the Virginia Theological Seminary and College. The school would assume its current name in 1996 as the Virginia University of Lynchburg.
The Virginia University of Lynchburg has maintained a solid, tight-knit institution, enrolling about 300 students, 60% of whom are graduate students. The more cavalier in attitude might be compelled to correlate the status of the institution with its size, but that would be a mistake. Anne Spencer enrolled at VUL at the age of 11 and graduated as valedictorian. She would eventually become a poet and be the first Black person to have their work published in the Norton Anthology of American Poetry. VUL also produced Noel C. Taylor, the first Black mayor of Roanoke, Virginia. Taylor served as mayor of Roanoke for 17 years, is credited with its economic revitalization, and is considered the city’s most influential leader. Roanoke’s city hall building is named in his honor. Pastor and civil rights activist Vernon Johns graduated from VUL. Johns’ life and work was ultimately portrayed on film in 1994 in the movie “Road to Freedom: A Vernon Johns Story”, where Johns was played by the incomparable James Earl Jones. Continuing its tradition of excellence, VUL produced Lawrence Carter, a historian who would become a professor at Harvard Divinity School and eventually Dean of the Martin Luther King International Chapel at Morehouse College. Also born of the VUL tradition of leadership was John Chilembwe, a Malawian organizer who inspired the Chilembwe Uprising against the British colonial powers in Malawi (formerly Nyasa). Chilembwe is considered a national hero in present day Malawi.
VUL has a long tradition of envisioning the unimaginable and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to transform the impossible into reality. From its very beginning, VUL was founded in spite of common perceptions at the time that Blacks could not create, fund, grow, and lead exceptional institutions of higher education independent of White involvement. The institution’s success, in the face of the prevailing socio-political constructs, is inextricably linked to its founding principle of self-help. In fact, the school’s motto is “Sibi Auxilium et Libertas”, which translates literally as “Self Help and Freedom”. While some might argue that such dogged implementation of self-reliance can sometimes alienate, its practitioners could also counter that the philosophy instills in them an unrelenting passion to pursue a goal, no matter how unfeasible or incredible. The Virginia University of Lynchburg infuses its graduates with the notion that there is no person too small, or aspiration too unattainable, to deter them from their triumphant path. We thank them for continuing to show us what people with acute vision and mighty hearts can accomplish.
There are almost no words to adequately describe how special HBCU’s are. Alumni recognize that. It is my hope to highlight the magic that is HBCU’s so as to increase alumni giving, enrollment, and external financial investment. For more information on ways to contribute, please visit
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