Date of Award
12-2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Program
Urban Studies
Department
Planning and Urban Studies
Major Professor
Andrea Mosterman
Second Advisor
David Gladstone
Third Advisor
Eva Baham
Fourth Advisor
Mary N. Mitchell
Abstract
April of 1865 marked the conclusion of open rebellion in the United States and opened new possibilities for education and advancement among Black Americans. In the decades following the Civil War, religious organizations established schools throughout the South for the formerly enslaved and free people of color. In New Orleans, the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) and the American Missionary Association (AMA) founded institutions that became vital centers for learning, social reform, and racial uplift. Their shared missions culminated in the founding of Dillard University in 1930, a union of Straight College and New Orleans University, marking a transformative moment in Black higher education. This dissertation argues that Dillard University functioned as a radical site of Black intellectualism, interracial cooperation, and institutional reform in the American South. Through its dedication to medicine, law, teacher education, and the arts, Dillard provided both access and agency for Black students during eras defined by segregation and limited opportunity. The research further contends that Dillard’s emphasis on critical thought and creativity made it a haven for freedom-oriented learning. Its faculty and students transformed education into a vehicle for liberation and civic action. The university’s role in the New Orleans Civil Rights Movement, through the activism of alumni such as Cecil Carter, Dave Dennis Sr., and Robert Collins, illustrates how Dillard’s intellectual culture directly contributed to local and national struggles for justice. Ultimately, this study situates Dillard within the broader Black intellectual tradition. Dillard University has embodied endurance, scholarship, and hope. Its history demonstrates how a small liberal arts institution became a living monument to the transformative power of education as resistance, and to the enduring pursuit of freedom beyond its walls.
Recommended Citation
Kennedy, John R., "Beyond Their Walls: How Pioneering Black Universities Have Shaped Black New Orleans From 1865 to The Present, Through The Dillard University Legacy" (2025). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 3331.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/3331
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Cultural History Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Justice Commons, United States History Commons, Urban Studies Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.