Howard and Kansas

[W. Gray]

In basketball, tonight, it is Howard vs Kansas.

Note that Howard University was founded by the same individual that the city of Howard, Kansas, was named after.

[farmgal67357]

I wondered about that!
Lisa

[oldfart]

General Oliver Otis Howard who was he why was Howard and the University named for him.

[Wilma]

Which came first, the town or the school?

[W. Gray]

Howard University came first but not by much.

The University was founded by Howard, himself, for black students in 1866 in the District of Columbia. At the time he was the military head of the Freedman's Bureau, an arm of the federal government.

Howard City came about in early 1870. He was still the head of the Bureau.

It seems to me that many places were named after people whose names were in the national news at the time a group was trying to establish a town or a county. That is how Howard County and Howard City were named. Howard was in the news for many years after Howard City was named, mainly as an Indian fighter.

There was a movie made of how he chased Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce for 1400 miles before they gave up, just short of sanctuary in Canada. He also was instrumental in securing peace with most of the Apaches. The 1950 movie Broken Arrow features his role.

Howard was a Corps Commander in the Civil War, recipient of the medal of honor, and was one-armed. He was part of Sherman's burning of Atlanta and the march to the sea.

[farmgal67357]

The movie is called "I Will Fight No More, Forever." It's a good movie that I've seen several times. I never realized that General Howard was the person that our little town was named after! Ya learn something new everyday......
Lisa

[redcliffsw]

The Freedmen's Bureau was corrupt.

Looks like Howard University is federally funded at $235,000,000 annually.  How about that?  Liberty?

That's the kind of results from government we've had since the northern victory.

[W. Gray]

To some people, an interesting aspect of the creation of Howard University might be its location. When Congress provided the institution with land to build, the area was in the District of Columbia but was not in the city of Washington.

Over the years the city of Washington annexed, via Congressional approval, additional land areas including Howard University and Georgetown, which was one of three municipalities in the district. Eventually, Washington occupied the entire District of Columbia.

Another city in the District of Columbia, Alexandria, was in a land area returned by the Federal government to the state of Virginia.

Columbia was selected as the name for the district because it was a popular name used as an alternate when referring to America. The reference is to Christopher Columbus.