The following are short descriptions of the major institutions which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Bethune-Cookman University is a private liberal arts institution in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is an Historically Black College University (HCBU) with a strong foundation in the United Methodist Church. Bethune-Cookman University began in 1904 as the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls. … Read MoreBethune-Cookman University (1904- )
Located within walking distance of downtown Columbia, South Carolina, Benedict College is a private four-year, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA. Benedict College was founded in 1870 by Rhode Island native Mrs. Bathsheba Benedict and the Baptist Home Mission. Its … Read MoreBenedict College (1870- )
Founded in 1865, Bowie State University is Maryland’s oldest historically black university, and one of the ten oldest African American institutions of higher education in the United States. It is also one of eleven senior colleges and universities in the University of Maryland system. The … Read MoreBowie State University (1865- )
Delaware State University is a public historically black university with its main campus in Dover and two other campuses in Wilmington and Georgetown. The school was established in 1891 as State College for Colored Students after passage of the Morrill Act of 1890 which gave … Read MoreDelaware State University (1891- )
West Virginia State University is one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) that has undergone a demographic change in its student body over the last century. When it opened its doors in 1891 the institution was intended to educate black students from throughout … Read MoreWest Virginia State University (1891- )
Alabama State University is a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded less than two years after the end of the Civil War as the Lincoln Normal School in Marion, Alabama, it is one of the oldest HBCUs in the United States. … Read MoreAlabama State University (1867- )
Coppin State University is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland. The school has its origins in a one-year program to train the city’s black elementary school teachers, established around 1900 in the Colored High School and Training School. The school’s name has changed several … Read MoreCoppin State University (1900- )
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical (Alabama A&M) University is a historically black university located in the city of Normal, Alabama. The school began in 1875 when Alabama officials used the Morrill Act of 1862 allowing state governments to establish colleges for African American students. Alabama A&M … Read MoreAlabama A&M University (1875- )
Lincoln University in Pennsylvania was founded in 1854 by John Miller Dickey, a Presbyterian minister and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson. It is located on Baltimore Pike in southern Chester County, a rural part of southeastern Pennsylvania. Lincoln was originally founded under the name Ashmun … Read MoreLincoln University [Pennsylvania] (1854- )
Founded in 1871, Alcorn State University is the oldest historically Black land-grant institution in the United States and the second oldest state-supported institution in the state of Mississippi. The college is located outside of Lorman in Claiborne County. Alcorn was founded in vacated Oakland College, … Read MoreAlcorn State University (1871- )
