ABSTRACT
As well-known and well-respected, midsized, private colleges within university settings, Howard (HU) and Northwestern (NU) share much in common, making a comparative analysis of the experiences of the black students who attended them fruitful. Below, I offer a very brief discussion of their beginnings. Because this book is not about Northwestern and Howard as particular institutions, the following facts are meant only to provide background to the stories that alumni and alumnae tell.1
