(EDUCATION) Circular from the founding of what became Missou

Sale 2663 - Lot 166

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(EDUCATION.) Circular from the founding of what became Missouri's Lincoln University. Printed circular, 10 x 7¾ inches, headed "Lincoln Institute at Jefferson City, Mo." and signed in type by general agent Richard B. Foster; light soiling at folds. Jefferson City, MO, [1866]

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This circular dates from the earliest days of the Lincoln Institute, now the venerable HBCU Lincoln University. It explains that "the object of Lincoln Institute is to help educate the colored people of Missouri . . . to supply the educational wants of the returned colored soldiers . . . to train Colored Teachers." The fundraising appeal notes that "the colored people have neither capital to spend nor time to lose in obtaining an education." A short section on the Institute's history explains their unique and powerful origin story: it "originated with the 62d regiment U.S.C.I. (organized as 1st Missouri Volunteers of African descent), which contributed $5,000 for that purpose" and "a further sum of $1,325 was obtained from the 65th U.S.C.I. (2d and 3d Missouri Volunteers of African descent)." Also included are a list of the Institute's trustees, and its constitution. Founding secretary Richard Baxter Foster, a former officer in the 62nd United States Colored Troops, went on to become the Institute's first principal as well as its only instructor for the first two years. No other examples traced in OCLC or at auction.