Virginia Union University

A Collegiate Anomaly

Virginia Union University (VUU) traces its origins to 1867, when Mary Ann Lumpkin, the African American widow of white slave trader Robert Lumpkin, leased the former slave jail to a Baptist minister. This minister founded the Colver Institute, a theological school for freedmen which merged with a school in Washington D.C. to form Virginia Union University at Richmond in 1899.1 VUU had a long legacy of academic learning and African American education by the First World War. Unlike Hampton, which specialized as a trade school, VUU functioned like a standard college offering academic classes. This put the school in a unique position and VUU was the only HBCU in Virginia to house an A section SATC unit.2 This meant that like the University of Virginia, William & Mary, Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, VUU trained officers for the war effort.

Like its non-HBCU counterparts, the SATC unit at VUU followed the same academic programs and schedules. That meant soldiers took academic courses to pursue becoming an officer, studied military theory, and took 11 hours of military training per week. What set VUU apart was the size of the unit. While William & Mary had four officers and 97 non-commissioned officers and privates, VUU had two officers and 69 non-commissioned officers and privates.3 Three of these men were inducted in November and one of the officers was the surgeon.4 Like Hampton, the officers at the VUU SATC unit were most likely white.

VUU-drill-schedule-Dec-2-95Download

The commanding officer of the unit, Lieutenant Cecil A. Howard, had his work cut out for him. Like Lt. Van Dusen at William & Mary, Lt. Howard had to deal with equipment requests and requisitions on his own and, like other unit commanders, had to make do with what little supplies he had. VUU was not shipped rifles until November 19, 1918, the unit did not have winter uniforms in early December, and Lt. Cecil was unable to complete the induction process for several men because he did not have enough induction forms.6 Additionally, Lt. Howard sent a telegram to the Quartermaster at the Eastern Headquarters for the Army on November 2, stating that his men had not been paid for their service during the month of October.7

Lt. Howard’s job only grew more difficult as the War Department expanded their recruiting efforts for African American officers.

Recruiting Center

On October 14, 1918, Lt. Howard received a memo from Colonel Charles M. O’Connor, Assistant to the Adjutant of the Army’s Eastern Department Headquarters. The memo informed Lt. Howard that he had been designated an “Examining Officer for the purpose of receiving and rating civilian candidates for admission into a Central Officer’s Training School.”8 In addition to running the SATC unit at VUU, he was now responsible for processing African American civilians who wanted to become officers. A memo from October 21 urged Howard to “make every effort to secure well qualified men as soon as possible . . . Give this matter widest publicity . . . Interest newspapers.”9 That same day, Howard received another memo ordering him to submit a list of men from his unit eligible for transfer to a central officer training school for “infantry, field artillery, and machine gun training. . . no limitations on number of qualified men.”10 Four days later, articles and advertisements began appearing, first in the News Leader and then the Times Dispatch that advertised the War Department’s recruiting efforts.11

Left: Article from the Richmond Times Dispatch, Oct. 26, 1918; Right: Article from the News Leader, Oct. 25, 191812

In addition to providing an overworked junior officer more work, the War Department’s new recruitment campaign indicates the perceived severity of the expected officer shortage. The single segregated officer training camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa was clearly not enough for training black officers. The War Department resorted to sending these new recruits to standard Army training camps; Camp Hancock, Georgia for machine guns, Camp Taylor, Kentucky for field artillery, and Camp Lee for infantry.13 The urgency present in the memos and telegrams sent to Lt. Howard highlight the War Department’s desperation for officers, even African American officers.

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Notes:

  1. “Our History & Our Purpose | Virginia Union University,” accessed March 3, 2023, https://www.vuu.edu/about-union/about/our-history-our-purpose; “Lumpkin’s Jail,” Encyclopedia Virginia (blog), accessed March 3, 2023, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/lumpkins-jail/.
  2. Student Army Training Corps Descriptive Circular dated October 14, 1918, 5, Box 3, Folder 8, Records of the Dean of the College, Theodorick Pryor Campbell, RG 11/1, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
  3. TAPS” Published in the Memory of The Students’ Army Training Corps at William and Mary College (Williamsburg, Virginia, 1918), 26; Memo from Lt. Cecil A. Howard to Eastern Department Headquarters dated November 18, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652; Telegram from Lt. Cecil A. Howard to District Military Inspector dated October 31, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  4. Memo to District Military Inspector from Lt. Cecil A. Howard dated November 18, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652; Memo from Lt. Cecil A. Howard to Eastern Department Headquarters dated November 18, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  5. Drill Schedule Week of Dec. 2 to 9, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  6. Memo from 1st Lt. A. Klipstein to Lt. Cecil A. Howard dated November 19, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652; Telegram from Lt. Cecil A. Howard to District Military Inspector dated December 5, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652; Telegram from Lt. Cecil A. Howard to Headquarters Eastern Dept. Quartermaster dated November 2, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  7. Telegram from Lt. Cecil A. Howard to Headquarters Eastern Dept. Quartermaster dated November 2, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  8. Memo from Colonel Charles M. O’Connor to Senior Army Officer, S.A.T.C., Virginia Union University dated October 14, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  9. Telegram from Simpson to Senior Army Officer SATC VA Union University dated October 21, 1918, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  10. Telegram from Simpson to Senior Army Officer SATC VA Union University dated October 21, 1918 8 PM, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  11. “Officers’ Schools Are Open To Colored Men, 18-45,” News Leader, October 25, 1918, Home Edition, 2; “For Colored Officers,” Richmond Times Dispatch, October 26, 1918, 10; Newspaper clippings, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  12. Newspaper clippings, National Archives RG 165 NM-84 Entry 412 Box 652.
  13. “For Colored Officers,” Richmond Times Dispatch, October 26, 1918, 10, https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=RTD19181026.1.10&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——–.