ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the historical development and current roles of the 1890 Institutions. It aims to identify the challenges facing all of us in providing a well-trained cadre of professionals, especially minorities, who can fully participate in the agricultural and related sectors, into the twenty-first century. With blacks and other minorities projected to constitute a major share of the labor force by the turn of the century. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, more blacks began to attend institutions of higher education created under the first Morrill Act. The 1890 institutions and other historically black colleges and universities have provided that quality education to many thousands of black Americans, many of whom may otherwise have been denied opportunities for higher education. A vast majority of all blacks with advanced degrees in agriculture, for example, are products of undergraduate programs at 1890 institutions.
