Dillard University history

Along with that need came a demand for higher education which led Methodist Episcopal Church officials to convert Union to New Orleans University in 1873.

Straight College added a law department in 1874.

In 1877, when Union soldiers began to withdraw from New Orleans, Straight’s main campus building was set ablaze, forcing the university to relocate.

Although this effort was discontinued after 1886, its graduates continued doing important work; Straight College graduates Louis A. Martinet and Rudolphe L. Desdunes argued the landmark Plessy vs.

New Orleans University added a secondary school, Gilbert Academy, and in 1889 the University responded to the need for medical care and medical education for African Americans by opening a medical department which included a school of pharmacy and a school of nursing.

Later, the University absorbed Phyllis Wheatley Sanitarium, founded in 1896, because of its financial difficulties.

In 1905, Straight University became Straight College.

The medical college was discontinued in 1911, but the hospital, including the nursing school, was continued under the name Flint-Goodridge Hospital.

When lack of funding threatened Flint Medical College’s existence, it joined Goodridge to become Flint-Goodridge Hospital in 1916.

Among other institutions that were part of this network was Gilbert Academy which was incorporated into New Orleans University in 1919.

In 1928, Straight College president James P. O'Brien made an appeal to businessman Edgar B. Stern for financial support.

On June 6, 1930, the newly formed board of trustees for the new institution proposed a charter for the opening of Dillard University.

While the board chose to no longer continue the work of Gilbert Academy, they continued to serve New Orleans’ Black community through Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University which opened in 1932.

Four years later, in 1934, alumni from both institutions united to form the Dillard University National Alumni Association.

Opening its doors in 1935, Dillard University was established to serve as an educational center of excellence in the South.

The new era continued with the appointment of William Stuart Nelson as Dillard’s first president in 1936.

Following Alexander's departure in 1937, the distinguished educator Albert Dent became Dillard's first African-American president.

Its nursing program (accredited in 1942) was the first nursing program to become accredited in the State of Louisiana.

Eventually, Flint-Goodridge would discontinue operations as a hospital in 1983.

In 1989, Cook created the Dillard University National Conference on Black-Jewish Relations from which sprang the Dillard University National Center for Black-Jewish Relations.

New Orleans: Author, 1991.

Lomax also played a key role in attracting the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta.

On July 1, 1997, Doctor Michael L. Lomax was named the fifth president of Dillard University.

Louise Bernard and Radiclani Clytus, Within These Walls: A Short History of Dillard University (New Orleans: Dillard University Office of the President, 2000); Dillard Heritage, http://www.dillard.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=63 (Official site).

In 2002 Dillard created the Institute of Jazz Culture (IOJC) to study the origins of and continuing role of jazz in New Orleans.

In 2004, Lomax decided that it was time to move on to a new assignment.

In 2005, flooding following Hurricane Katrina affected more than 80% of the city of New Orleans including most of the campus.