In the spring of 1865 an association of colored men was formed in Baltimore for moral and intellectual improvement. They bought a building formerly used by the Newton University, for which they paid sixteen thousand dollars. In honor of their able pioneer, Frederick Douglass, they named it "The Douglass Institute." On the day of its dedication he delivered an address before the association in Baltimore, in the course of which he said: "The mission of this institution is to develop manhood; to build up manly character among the colored people of this city and State. It is to teach them the true idea of manly independence and self-respect. It is to be a dispenser of knowledge, a radiator of light. In a word, we dedicate this institution to virtue, temperance, knowledge, truth, liberty, and justice."