Chapter 3: Cultural Capital And Black Higher Education: The Ame Colleges And Universities As Collective Economic Enterprises,1865-1910

In the 19th century the opening of an institution of higher education was a formidable economic undertaking for any religious denomination. This was particularly the case for predominantly black denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Under the early leadership of Bishop Daniel Payne, however, the AME Church founded a number of institutions of higher education, beginning with Wilberforce University in 1856. These colleges and universities were established to provide an “educated ministry” for the AME congregations and to prepare an “educated leadership group” for the African population inside and outside the United States.

As economic enterprises, these institutions of higher learning could depend upon “financial” and “physical capital” from the denomination’s General and Annual Conferences as well as “human capital” in the form of the educational skills and background of the teachers and administrators. More recently, economists and social scientists have emphasized the impor-tance of “social capital” for the success of economic enterprises, that is the network of social organizations, cultural institutions, voluntary civic associations, family, and kinship groups in a local community that assist in the development of economic enterprises. Entrepreneurs interested in starting small businesses or large industries need a social infrastructure within the community where the enterprise is located to supply resources for production, manufacture, and distribution. Even where there is sufficient financial capital, without the social and human capital in the form of managers and workers, technicians and salespersons, suppliers and distribution agents, there is little guarantee of economic success.¹