The Night Malcolm X Spoke at the Oxford Union

The Oxford University Union, a debating society... has always played an important part in English political life. -W. E. B. Du Bois, "Race Student," 1943

Founded in 1823 and located in the heart of the university, the Oxford Union was charged with advancing education among the members of the university by organizing debates and addresses by distinguished visitors. It also provided a library, bar, and other recreational facilities. To join, university students had to pay a sizable fee (the equivalent of $300 in 2014 currency). Wellconnected and ambitious students were eager to do so. In the early twentieth century, to quote the American literary critic John Corbin, "the Union held the elect of Oxford, intellectual, social, and sporting. "50