Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, members of the First Congregational Society of Washington considered establishing a theological seminary for the education of black clergymen.

The new institution was named for General Oliver Otis Howard, a Civil War hero who was both the founder of the university and, at the time, commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau.

Alain Locke, chair of the Department of Philosophy and first African American Rhodes Scholar, authored The New Negro (1925), which helped to usher in the Harlem Renaissance.

[16] Ralph Bunche, the first Nobel Peace Prize winner of African descent, served as chair of the Department of Political Science.

By January 1943, students had begun to organize regular sit-ins and pickets around Washington, D.C. at cigar stores and cafeterias which refused to serve them because of their race.

[19] Stokely Carmichael, also known as Kwame Toure, a student in the Department of Philosophy and the Howard University School of Divinity, coined the term "Black Power" and worked in Lowndes County, Alabama as a voting rights activist.

His concluding thought was, "We can not go out from this place and occasion without refreshment of faith and renewal of confidence that in every exigency our Negro fellow citizens will render the best and fullest measure of service whereof they are capable.

"[23] In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a speech to the graduating class at Howard, where he outlined his plans for civil rights legislation and endorsed aggressive affirmative action to combat the effects of years of segregation of blacks from the nation's economic opportunities.

In April 2007, the head of the faculty senate called for the ouster of Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert, saying the school was in a state of crisis, and it was time to end "an intolerable condition of incompetence and dysfunction at the highest level.

[37] In May 2016, President Barack Obama delivered a commencement address at Howard University encouraging the graduates to become advocates for racial change and to prepare for future challenges.

[38] In 2018, nearly 1,000 students held a sit-in demanding injunction over the administration's use of funding, after a Medium post revealed that six university employees had been fired for "double dipping" financial aid and tuition remission.

[39][40] After the student protest ended, faculty voted "no confidence" in the university president, chief operating officer, provost, and board of trustees.

[42] It also led to an investigation by the Department of Education, which placed the university on "heightened cash monitoring", an increased form of scrutiny relating to the disbursement of student financial aid.

[46] In October 2021, a group of students protested the mold, mice, and substandard conditions in campus residential buildings in the Blackburn Takeover, demanding an improvement in the living situation and representation on the board of trustees.

[51][52] In 2023, Howard University was selected by the Department of the Air Force to lead a research center on tactical autonomy technology for military systems.

[54] The 256-acre (1.04 km2; 0.400 sq mi) campus, often referred to as "The Mecca", is in northwest Washington, D. C.[55] Major improvements, additions and changes occurred at the school in the aftermath of World War I.

The gallery's permanent collection has grown to over 4,000 works of art and continues to serve as an academic resource for the Howard community.

Howard University Hospital, opened in 1975 on the eastern end of campus, was built on the site of Griffith Stadium, in use from the 1890s to 1965 as home of the first, second and third incarnations of the MLB Senators, as well as the NFL's Washington Redskins, several college football teams (including Georgetown, GWU and Maryland) and part-time home of the Homestead Grays of the Negro National League.

[55] Howard faculty include member of Congress from Maryland Roscoe Bartlett, blood banking pioneer Charles Drew,[66] Emmy-winning actor Al Freeman Jr.,[67] suffragist Elizabeth Piper Ensley,[68] civil rights lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston, media entrepreneur Cathy Hughes, marine biologist Ernest Everett Just, professor of surgery LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., sociology professor Anaheed Al-Hardan, journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates,[69] political consultant Ron Walters, political activist Stacey Abrams, novelist and diplomat E. R. Braithwaite,[70] filmmaker Haile Gerima, and psychiatrist Frances Cress Welsing.

[71] In 2017, Howard established the Bison STEM Scholars Program to increase the number of underrepresented minorities with high-level research careers in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics.

[74] In 2017, Google Inc. announced it had established a pilot residency program named "Howard University West" on its campus in Mountain View, California, to help increase underrepresented minorities in the tech industry.

[75] Howard students in the program learn from senior Google engineers, practice the latest coding techniques, and experience tech culture in Mountain View for course credits towards their degrees.

BCCSO consists of a multidisciplinary group of Howard faculty in partnership with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Sciences Division, other academic institutions, and government.

The Howard University Bison Yearbook is created, edited and published during the school year to provide students a year-in-review.

[102][103] Over 100,000 of alumni, students, celebrity guests, and visitors are in attendance to patronize the many events and attractions affiliated with the festive week on and near campus.

[109][110] The Bison Ball and Excellence Awards is an annual black tie gala hosted by the Howard University Student Association (HUSA).

[111][112] Resfest week is a Howard tradition that involves freshmen living in residence halls on campus competing in several organized competitions (field day,[113] academic debate, dance, stroll,[114] step-show, etc.)