ed to their permanent home.

The selection of the permanent site for the University is due largely
to the fortunate combination of judgment, persistence and faith
characteristic of General Howard. He, with General E. Whittlesey,
acting as a committee on the selection of a site, wished to procure
the commanding elevation in the northern part of the city where the
University now stands. This was part of the tract of 150 acres known
as _Effingham_ and owned by John A. Smith. On the plea that the
location of a Negro school would depreciate the remainder of his
property, the owner refused to sell any part of it. After much
argument, General Howard asked him to state his price for the whole
farm. The rate given was one thousand dollars an acre, making a total
valuation of $150,000, a staggering sum under the circumstances.
Undaunted, however, General Howard closed the bargain, although the
treasury of the University was without a single dollar. Adjustments
brought the final purchase price for the property down to $147,500,
for which the corporation made itself responsible.[219]

With the exception of about thirty acres, the land was divided into
lots and sold at a price averaging about four times its original
cost.[220] The part reserved consisted of the main campus now
occupied by the academic building, dormitories and residences; the
site of the Medical School and the old Freedmen's Hospital; and a park
between the two covering four city blocks.[221]

The main part of the purchase price for the property was supplied by
the Freedmen's Bureau. The funds from the sale of the property not
needed for University purposes were placed in the treasury to be used
for the construction of buildings.[222] The corporation received
additional grants from the Freedmen's Bureau, bringing the sum
obtained from this source to about $500,000.[223] With these funds
several residences for professors and four large buildings were
erected; namely University Hall, Miner Hall, Clark Hall and the
Medical Building. Clark Hall, the boys' dormitory, was named in honor
of David Clark, of Hartford, Connecticut, who contributed $25,000
toward the support of the University. Miner Hall, the dormitory for
girls, was named in honor of Miss Myrtilla Miner, one of the pioneers
in the education of colored girls in the District of Columbia.[224]

The early financial management of the University soon brought it into
difficulties. The hopeful spirit of the times