Dillard University, Private university in Gentilly, New Orleans, United States.
Dillard University is a private liberal arts college in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, covering around 22 hectares (about 55 acres). Neoclassical buildings line avenues framed by tall oak trees, giving the campus a quiet, green setting.
The institution formed in 1930 through the merger of Straight University (founded in 1869) and New Orleans University, both schools opened after the Civil War for freed African Americans. This step created the first historically Black college in Louisiana, continuing to serve regional higher education today.
The name Dillard honors James Hardy Dillard, an early twentieth-century educator who worked to improve schools across the South. The campus reflects its cultural identity through its Institute of Jazz Culture and research programs on African American daily life, both rooted in the local community.
The campus sits in the Gentilly neighborhood, a few kilometers northeast of the French Quarter, in a quiet residential area. Visitor days or public events are listed on the college website, and parking is available along the main avenues.
The institution has developed a study program in recent years that focuses on African American food culture and its historical meaning across the southern United States. A professorship supported by a donation advances this research and makes it accessible to students working with culinary traditions.
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