University of Minnesota Athletics
Black History Month: Morrill Hall Demonstration
2/25/2021 8:25:00 AM | Athletics
The Morrill Act of 1862 was signed by Abraham Lincoln, creating the land-grant universities across the United States. This would later be the namesake of a pivotal moment in University of Minnesota Black history, the 1969 Morrill Hall Takeover.
The Civil Rights movement spurred a rally cry for equality, access to housing, and safety. At the time, the U of M had an estimated 100 Black students on campus, despite having some 40,000 students overall, and its curriculum on African-American experiences was sorely lacking.
After the assassionation of Martin Luther King Jr., the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Student Association quickly announced an MLK memorial fund to support low-income students. The administration formed a human rights task force to address issues such as race relations on campus.
The Afro-American Action Committee (AAAC), a Black student organization, responded and presented to the task force a list of demands, including better recruitment and scholarships for Black students and the creation of an African-American studies curriculum at the University.
Around 70 Black students met with President Malcolm Moos about their concerns. But after the conversation wasn't productive, the students decided to stage a protest in the funding and records office in Morrill Hall. The AAAC allowed staff to leave, but prevented anyone from entering the building by securing doors with coat hangers and eventually piling up desks as barricades.
Soon the campus was divided. White students from the organization Students for a Democratic Society joined the protest in Morrill Hall's outer lobby. Angry white students threw snowballs and rocks, shouted derogatory remarks and discussed storming the building.
On January 15, 1969, the students and the University reached an agreement to end the demonstration. The Morrill Hall takeover would establish the Department of Afro-American studies, one of the first in the nation. It later would become the African American & African Studies department, adding seven community members to the fourteen-member board of the MLK scholarship fund.
The demonstration spurred the creation of scholarships and programs for Black students. In 2012 the University created the Huntley House for African American Men (named for Horace Huntley) to provide support for students.
The Civil Rights movement spurred a rally cry for equality, access to housing, and safety. At the time, the U of M had an estimated 100 Black students on campus, despite having some 40,000 students overall, and its curriculum on African-American experiences was sorely lacking.
After the assassionation of Martin Luther King Jr., the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Student Association quickly announced an MLK memorial fund to support low-income students. The administration formed a human rights task force to address issues such as race relations on campus.
The Afro-American Action Committee (AAAC), a Black student organization, responded and presented to the task force a list of demands, including better recruitment and scholarships for Black students and the creation of an African-American studies curriculum at the University.
Around 70 Black students met with President Malcolm Moos about their concerns. But after the conversation wasn't productive, the students decided to stage a protest in the funding and records office in Morrill Hall. The AAAC allowed staff to leave, but prevented anyone from entering the building by securing doors with coat hangers and eventually piling up desks as barricades.
Soon the campus was divided. White students from the organization Students for a Democratic Society joined the protest in Morrill Hall's outer lobby. Angry white students threw snowballs and rocks, shouted derogatory remarks and discussed storming the building.
On January 15, 1969, the students and the University reached an agreement to end the demonstration. The Morrill Hall takeover would establish the Department of Afro-American studies, one of the first in the nation. It later would become the African American & African Studies department, adding seven community members to the fourteen-member board of the MLK scholarship fund.
The demonstration spurred the creation of scholarships and programs for Black students. In 2012 the University created the Huntley House for African American Men (named for Horace Huntley) to provide support for students.
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