Lucy Diggs Slowe Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center

Lucy Diggs Slowe passed away on October 21, 1937, at 11:05pm in her home due to a cardio-vascular renal disease. The once active and healthy champion ultimately died tragically, largely due to stress. Her once vibrant backyard, teeming with students and her loved ones, now sat empty. Barely one generation from enslavement, Dean Slowe managed to accomplish milestones unimaginable until she completed them. However, given her cause of death, one must consider the cost paid for her extraordinary achievements.
The Afro-American broke the news nationally on October 23, 1937. "The death of Dean Lucy D. Slowe revives indelible memories of her exemplary womanhood and painful reflection of the treatment she received under the canopy of her alma mater," writes a special correspondent. The long-time supporters of the Dean admonished the Howard University's adminstration and alumni for their role in Slowe's untimely death boldly printing,"the life of Lucy D. Slowe at Howard University was one of suffering," citing Slowe's being "sentenced to a paltry salary of $3,200 a year" while others soared much higher and much quicker. The writer also mentioned the administration's embarrassing attempt to force Slowe into "the old shanty on College Street" and concludes that "her death may have been so ordained to help bring her alma mater a new day."