Friday, November 20th. One of the most renowned of America’s historically black colleges was founded on this date in 1866 as the Howard Theological Seminary. Named after Civil War general and post-war Freedmen’s Bureau Director Oliver O. Howard, the seminary changed its name to Howard University just two months after its founding. While not the first college to admit black students, nor the first to be established for blacks, Howard was the first to offer full undergraduate, graduate and professional training to African-Americans. When Howard opened its campus, college degrees were rare over all and practically unknown among blacks. Today, among African-Americans over the age of 25, almost 20 percent have bachelor’s degrees or higher. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at <www.census.gov>.
Saturday, November 21st. A key part of daily telecommunications is 64 years old this month, as direct-dial telephone area codes for transcontinental calling were introduced in 1951. The mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, made the first official call, picking up the phone and directly calling his counterpart in Alameda, California. At the time, all previous long distance calls went through an operator. To begin with, there were 86 exchanges, but the vast expansion in cell phone usage means the U.S. is fast running out of 10-digit phone numbers. American residential customers on average pay $350 annually for their home telephone service and over $960 for cell phones. Despite our familiarity with do-it-yourself calling, there are still some 30,000 telephone operators serving us. Profile America is in its19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sunday, November 22nd. National Farm-City Week began last Friday and ends on Thanksgiving Day, when agricultural bounty is most notable. First declared by congressional resolution in 1956, the occasion recognizes that farms are a necessary precondition for town life and urbanization. As Daniel Webster noted in 1840, “When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers are therefore the founders of human civilization.” The U.S. population of nearly 322 million people is sustained by the output of America’s 2.1 million farms, which encompass nearly 915 million acres. To aid farmers in tilling the soil, around 1,100 manufacturers annually produce nearly $38 billion worth of farm machinery and equipment. Profile America is in its19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.