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As Horace Mann Bond noted in his book Education for Freedom: A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, with the college’s founding in 1854, “This was the first institution founded anywhere in the world to provide a higher education in the arts and sciences for youth of African descent.”

Lincoln University was founded as Ashmun Institute in 1854 by the Rev. John Miller Dickey, it was named after Jehudi Ashmun, a religious leader and social reformer. Lincoln University’s (Ashmun Institute’s) ties to Africa and youth of African descent were a significant component of the framework for the institution’s creation. In 1866, Ashmun Institute was renamed Lincoln University after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Located in southern Chester County, Lincoln is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and offers academic programs in undergraduate study in the arts, sciences as well as graduate programs in human services, reading, education, mathematics, and administration. The University is proud of its faculty for the high quality of their teaching, research, and service, and of its alumni, among the most notable of whom are: Langston Hughes, ‘29, world-acclaimed poet; Thurgood Marshall, ‘30, first African-American Justice of the US Supreme Court; Hildrus A. Poindexter, ‘24, internationally known authority on tropical diseases; Roscoe Lee Browne, ‘46, author and widely acclaimed actor of stage and screen; Jacqueline Allen, ‘74, judge for the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia; and Eric C. Webb, ‘91, author, poet and editor-in-chief of Souls of People.

Many of Lincoln’s international graduates have gone on to become outstanding leaders in their countries, including Nnamdi Azikiwe, ‘30, Nigeria’s first president; Kwame Nkrumah, ‘39, first president of Ghana; Rev. James Robinson, ‘35, founder of Crossroads Africa, which served as the model for the Peace Corps; and Sibusio Nkomo, Ph.D., ‘81, chairperson, National Policy Institute of South Africa.

During the first one hundred years of its existence, Lincoln graduated approximately 20 percent of the Black physicians and more than 10 percent of the Black attorneys in the United States. Its alumni have headed over 35 colleges and universities and scores of prominent churches. At least 10 of its alumni have served as United States ambassadors or mission chiefs. Many are federal, state and municipal judges, and several have served as mayors or city managers.

On April 11, 2006, Lincoln’s Board of Trustees voted to revive the Football program, and establish Marching & Pep Bands. The University has petitioned membership in the CIAA, of which Lincoln was a founding member of the league. Lincoln will be moving from the NCAA’s Division III to Division II. A club football team is scheduled for the 2008 followed with a full Division II schedule in 2009.