Born in Elizabeth City, NC in 1852,
Lane was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Amherst College in 1879. In 1883 he
was appointed Professor of Greek Language and Literature at Howard University.
He was the first black to have such a position at Howard. Full of unrealized
promise, he died suddenly in February of 1885. His death was widely lamented.
Among his eulogists was Frederick Douglass.