A pioneering historically Black university serving working-class African Americans through evening and extension education in Washington, D.C.
Frelinghuysen University offered a comprehensive range of educational programs designed for non-traditional, working-class African American students. The curriculum included courses for those with limited or no literacy skills, a complete high school curriculum, and undergraduate and graduate-level coursework. The university operated schools of liberal arts, applied science, biology, sociology, theology, law (the John M. Langston School of Law), chiropractic, pharmacy, embalming and sanitary science, and commerce. Vocational and professional education were often provided in complement to general education to match student capacity. Notably, over 75 percent of graduates from the law school passed the Washington, D.C. bar exam in 1927.
The university pioneered a novel 'home college' concept to keep costs low and accessible for working students. Classes were held in the evenings to accommodate those employed during the day, and were conducted in homes and businesses throughout the area to reduce commuting time. Tuition was kept as low as possible and billed monthly rather than per semester. Under President Anna J. Cooper's leadership in the 1930s, the university focused on increasing literacy among the African American working poor and providing liberal arts and vocational education for unskilled workers, employing what scholars describe as a 'decolonizing pedagogy' to help students question dominant thought and prepare for intellectual enlightenment.
Founded in 1906 by Jesse Lawson and educator Kelly Miller, the university was renamed Frelinghuysen University in 1917 in honor of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, a U.S. Senator and Secretary of State who supported African American causes. Jesse Lawson served as president for twenty-one years until his death in 1927. The university was accredited and awarded degrees from 1927 to 1937, but lost accreditation due to insufficient endowment and other factors. Following financial difficulties and foreclosure of its main property in 1931, the university changed its name to the Frelinghuysen Group of Schools for Colored Working People in 1940. Although no longer accredited, it continued providing educational and social services to the African American community. The institution experienced significant decline throughout the 1940s and closed by c. 1960.
The university's first permanent classroom building, a Queen Anne-style structure built in 1879 and located at 1800 Vermont Avenue NW in the Shaw neighborhood, was purchased in 1921 and used until 1927. This building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 for its significance to African American education and is part of the Greater U Street Historic District. The building now appears on the Washington, D.C. African American Heritage Trail. In 1927, the university expanded to a larger property at 601 M Street, a former home for the elderly with three buildings and sixty-six rooms, but lost this property to foreclosure in 1931.