Brief History of General Oliver O. Howard
General Oliver O. Howard, a Civil War hero was born on November 8, 1830 in Leeds, Maine and died October 26, 1909 in Burlington, Vermont. He served as organizer and head of the Freedmen’s Bureau in (1865-72) and founder of Howard University. He used his position in the Freedmen’s Bureau to fight for, protect, and create educational possibilities, and a better way of life for the freedmen. Howard University gets its name from him and the Howard University Hospital, as we know it today was called "Freedman's Hospital.” He became the third president of the University, but resigned to go back to the military. The military was his love and in his blood. General Howard is described as a “Christian man who stood up for his beliefs and convictions, and who used his position as head of the Freedmen’s Bureau to fight for the well-being of Negroes in the South.”1 The General took pride in his position to defend race relations, education, and the general welfare of people. He felt that “no aspect of freedom for the newly emancipated was quite as close to his heart as that of providing educational facilities.”2 The General’s dedication and commitment to the freedmen was recognized by President Andrew Johnson, who in 1865 appointed General Howard to commission the Freedmen’s Bureau. As a result of his new appointment the General moved to Washington.
Being a deeply religious man, The General’s religious roots lead him to “join others in helping to establish the First Congregational Church of Washington.”3 Following the establishment of the church, members began to talk about establishing a “seminary for the training of African-American ministers”4 of which the General was asked to join the discussion The idea and discussion of developing a seminary school grew into “training of black teachers” into a University. In honor of General Howard, who was highly regarded as a hero and humanitarian and who played an important role in the institution’s conceptualization,”5 the idea of “Howard University” was born.
Brief History of Howard University
In his fight for education, General Howard pursued federal support and legislative sanction for policy to continue education in the South. In November, 1869 he wrote a proposal to the President and Congress “to combine the educational work of the Freedmen’s Bureau and that of the Department of Education to establish schools within societies, state and local agencies, and to incorporate as part of its organization the state superintendents of schools.”4 Notes
1-2Cox, John and LaWanda, “General O. O. Howard and the "Misrepresented Bureau." The
Journal of Southern History 19 (1953):439.

3-5 Howard University. “A Short History.” http://medicine.howard.edu/about/history/default.htm.

Bibliography

Cox, John and Cox, LaWanda. “General O. O. Howard and the "Misrepresented Bureau." The
Journal of Southern History 19, no. 4 (November, 1953), http://www.jstor.org/stable/2955086. (accessed 20 April 2013 and April 14, 2013).

Holmes, Dwight O. W. “Fifty Years of Howard University: Part I.” The Journal of Negro
History 3, no. 2 (April, 1918), http://www.jstor.org/stable/2713486. (accessed 20 April 2013).

Holmes, Dwight O. W. “Fifty Years of Howard University: Part II.” The Journal of Negro
History 3, no. 4 (October, 1918), http://www.jstor.org/stable/2713817. (accessed 20, April 2013).

Richardson, Anne. "Oliver Otis Howard - General in the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Indian Wars." Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission (blog), http://www.ochcom.org/howard/. (accessed April 14, 2013).

Howard University. “A Short History”. http://medicine.howard.edu/about/history/ (accessed 28 April 2013).

Howard University. “Brief History of Howard University.” http://www.howard.edu/explore/history.htm. (accessed 28 April 2013)