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Froebellian method of teaching young children concerned Thomas. As she recalled, "There was no more of the old ways of teaching. Now they used the Montessori method. I told my mother I would have to change my life, that technology was taking over."25

[[underline]] New Vistas: The Howard University Experience, 1921-1924 [[/underline]]

Alma Thomas left Delaware and returned to Washington, D.C. in 1921. At the age of 30, she enrolled at Howard University with the idea of pursuing a career as a costume designer in the Department of Home Economics. Chartered on March 2, 1867, and approved by the United States Congress, Howard University offered the following departments: Normal, Collegiate, Theological, Law, Medical, Agriculture, and any other departments desired.26 When it was first known that the university was opened, applications came from all kinds of people seeking admission. The University was "a new thing in the country - a university where black and white, old and young, married and single, ignorant and informed, male and female - all could enter, with or without money."19

March 2, 1917 was the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Howard University. A month later, on April 19, the United States entered WWI. This war and its aftermath profoundly affected the University, and marks an epoch in its development.28

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