Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)

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**Lincoln University**

Motto	"If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
Established	April 29, 1854
Type	Public, State-related
President	Dr. Ivory V. Nelson
Undergraduates	1,520
Postgraduates	489
Location	Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA
Campus	Rural 350 acres
Colors	Orange and Blue
Mascot	Lions
Website	www.lincoln.edu

Lincoln University in Pennsylvania is a four-year University on 350 acres in southern Chester County and a Center for Graduate Studies in Philadelphia. Lincoln University currently provides undergraduate and graduate coursework for approximately 2,000 students. As Horace Mann Bond noted in his book Education for Freedom (A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania), "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 is the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities located on its original site and founded for the purpose of post secondary education. Today, Lincoln University, America's first HBCU is a nationally acclaimed institution of higher learning that provides the best elements of a liberal arts and science based undergraduate core curriculum and selected graduate programs to prepare students of every race and nationality to live and compete in a highly technological and global society. Lincoln is a "state-related" university, meaning it receives public funds and offers reduced tuition for Pennsylvania residents but is under independent control. Lincoln is the only HBCU and second-oldest behind the University of Pittsburgh of Pennsylvania's four state-related universities (the other two being Penn State and Temple University).

Lincoln University has the unprecedented distinction among the nation's colleges and universities of having two distinguished alumni honored with commemorative first-class stamps by the United States Postal Service: Thurgood Marshall, January, 2003; Langston Hughes, February, 2002.

Lincoln University has many other distinguished alumni, including Hildrus Poindexter, Horace Mann Bond, Roscoe Lee Browne, Robert L. Carter, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, and Melvin B. Tolson. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah were the first President/Prime Minister of Nigeria and Ghana respectively fulfilling John Miller Dickey's vision for Lincoln University. From 1854-1954, the university was a leader among colleges in providing opportunities for African-Americans, graduating 20% of all African-American physicians and 10% of all African-American attorneys in the United States. It is home of the Barnes Foundation.

Lincoln was the first college or university in the United States to produce an alumni publication in November 1884. Early noted writers for Lincoln's "Alumni Magazine" included abolitionist, orator, and educator Frederick Douglass. Lincoln was the first Black university to become affiliated with the College Entrance Examination Board, in 1950.

Lincoln University alumni have held key leadership positions at more than 35 colleges and universities and scores of prominent churches. Seven Lincoln alumni founded the following U.S. or foreign universities: South Carolina State University , Livingstone College , Albany State University , Texas Southern University , Ibeme Memorial College, Nigeria, Ibibio State College, Nigeria, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. Ten Lincoln University graduates have served as United States ambassadors and mission chiefs.

Lincoln University has often been referred to as the Princeton University of HBCU due to it close ties to Princeton. Issac Norton Rendall, who was an early president of Lincoln and graduate of Princeton University, and it's Seminary developed Lincoln's early curriculum based on his experiences at Princeton. The similarities also extend to the colors of the two schools and their mascots (Lincoln’s Orange and Blue Lions to Princeton Orange & Black Tigers.

1 History
2 Presidents
3 Notable Alumni
4 Athletics
5 Alma Mater
6 Further reading
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Lincoln University was founded as Ashmun Institute in 1854 by the Rev. John Miller Dickey, a Presbyterian minister, and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson (a Quaker) and named after Jehudi Ashmun , a religious leader and social reformer. It was renamed Lincoln University in 1866 after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln University Schools of Law and Medicine were closed in 1873, and the School of Theology (Seminary) closed in 1959.

Lincoln University as Ashmun Institute ties to Africa and youth of African descent was part of the creation of the institution. John Miller Dickey first student John R. Amos, his brother Thomas H. Amos, and Armistead Miller were trained to support the establishment of Liberia upon their graduation.

President William Howard Taft conferred degrees to the Lincoln University Class of 1910 on June 18, 1910, and President Warren G. Harding addressed the Class of 1921 at the Alumni Arch on June 6, 1921.

Lincoln University has always played a role in promoting civil rights as evidenced by Albert Einstein, at the invitation of Dr. Horace Mann Bond, relented on his long standing policy of speaking and accepting honorary degrees, spoke and received an honorary degree from Lincoln University in May 1946. As noted in the "Einstein File" by Fred Jerome, "Einstein clearly intended to send a message to a wider audience (on his stance on racism in the United States), but the media then, like the media today had different priorities. While almost all of Einstein's public speeches and interviews were widely covered by the major media, in this case, most of the press treated the address by the world's most famous scientist at the world's oldest black university as a non- event".

Dr. Horace Mann Bond also befriended Albert C. Barnes, founder of the Barnes Foundation, who later changed the bylaws of the foundation to make it possible for Lincoln University to one day control the foundation's board of trustees, and thereby oversee one of the largest private art collections in the world, worth over $2 billion. The Barnes Foundation recently contested Albert C. Barnes' will and Lincoln University's control. A settlement was brokered by Pensylvania Governor Edward Rendell in 2005.

The university admitted women students in 1952, and formally associated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a state-related institution in 1972.

[edit] Presidents

1854–1856 John Miller Dickey, Founder and President of the Board of Trustees Ashmun Institute and Lincoln University
1856-1861 John Pym Carter
1861-1865 John Wynne Martin
1865-1906 Issac Norton Rendall
1906-1924 John Ballard Rendall
1924-1926 Walter Livingston Wright (Acting President)
1926-1936 William Hallock Johnson, Ph. D.
1936-1945 Walter Livingston Wright
1945-1957 Horace Mann Bond '23, Ph. D. (First Alumni President)
1957-1960 Armstead Otey Grubb, Ph. D. (Acting President)
July 1960-June 1961 Donald Charles Yelton (Acting President)
1961-1969 Marvin Wachman, Ph. D.
January 1970-July 1970 Bernard Warren Harleston (Acting President)
October 1970-1985 Herman Russell Branson, Ph. D.
1985-1987 Donald Leopold Mullett '51, Ph. D. (Acting President)
1987-1998 Niara Sudarkasa, Ph. D.
October 1998-August 1999 James Donaldson '61, Ph. D (Acting President)
1999-Present Ivory V. Nelson, Ph. D.

[edit] Notable Alumni

Nnamdi Azikiwe Class of 1930, First President of Nigeria
Harry W. Bass Class of 1866, First African American elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1910.
Horace Mann Bond Educator, Scholar, and First African-American and Alumnus to become President of Lincoln University
Oscar Brown, Jr. Class of 1940, renowned singer, actor, playwright, and director in the 1960's.
Roscoe Lee Browne Actor, and former 800 meters record holder.
Robert L. Carter Class of 1937, went on to become general counsel of the NAACP and a United States District Judge.
Cab Calloway left Lincoln in 1930 to become a world renowned entertainer and bandleader.
Lillian E. Fishburne, Class of 1971, First African American woman promoted to the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy in 1998.
Archibald H. Grimke Class of 1870, lawyer, journalist, public speaker and a member of the Niagra Movement, a precursor to the NAACP.
Francis J. Grimké , Class of 1870, Pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. , and member of the Niagra Movement , a precursor to the NAACP.
Gil Scott-Heron Activist, Singer Song Writer attended Lincoln in the Early 1970's.
Langston Hughes Class of 1926, World renowned Poet
Robert L. Ireland Class of 1966, First African American associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1997.
Montford "Monte" Irvin Former New York Baseball Giants attended Lincoln University.
Brian Jackson , Keyboardist & Writer
Robert Walter "Whirlwind" Johnson Class of 1924, noted educator and tennis instructor (including tennis greats Althea Gibson & Arthur Ashe).
Thurgood Marshall Class of 1930, First Afrcan-American Supreme Court Justice
Thomas E. Miller former South Carolina Congressman, and former President of South Carolina State University
Aaron Albert Mossell Attorney, and First African American to graduate fron the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Nathan Francis Mossell Physician, and First African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Congressman Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. First African American Elected to Congress from Pennsylvania (Class of 1921).
Sibusio Nkomo Class of 1981; Chairperson, National Policy Institute of the Republic of South Africa.
Kwame Nkrumah Class of 1939 First President of the modern Ghana.
Hildrus Poindexter World renowned expert on tropical diseases.
Charles L. Preston, Jr. Class of 1950, First African American U.S. Postal Inspector (1962).
William Drew Robeson I Class of 1876, Minister, and father of Paul Robeson.
Rev. James Robinson Class of 1935, Founder of Crossroads Africa (the model President John F. Kenedy based the Peace Corps on).
Wilbert "Bill" Tatum Class of 1958-Publisher Emeritus of The New York Amsterdam News.
Clive Terrelonge Class of 1994, Olympic Track & Field Athlete from Jamaica
Melvin Tolson World renowned Poet
James L. Usry Class of 1946, First African American Mayor of Atlantic City NJ
Hon. Herb J. Wesson Jr. Class of 1999, elected Speaker of the California State Assembly in 2002.
Albert H. Wheeler First African-American Mayor of Ann Arbor Michigan
Hon. Bruce M. Wright Class of 1942, Retired Judge in New York & Connecticut, and author of "Black Robes, White Justice".

[edit] Athletics

Lincoln University participates in the NCAA Division III level. Lincoln has won 16 NCAA Division III Track & Field championships since 1985. Lincoln currently competes as a Division III independent, with no conference affiliation other than the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and the Association of D3 Independents.

The success of the Track and Field program led to the creation of the coed athletic fellowship of Track Phi Track at Lincoln in 1983. Some of the requirements include being an All American and/or striving to become an All American, meeting and exceeding academic requirements in your major, and participation in Lincoln's Track & Field program for four years.

The men's basketball team achieved a 46-12 record from 2004- 2006 seasons. The 2005-2006 season witnessed Lincoln's first national basketball ranking, led by All American, D3Hoops & Basketball News National Player of the Year Kyle Myricks who was dubbed by ESPN as D3's "Most Exciting Player". The Lions made the sweet sixteen for the first time in school history.

On 4/11/2006, 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.

On Decmember 2, 2006, Lincoln's basketball team set 5 Division III records in a 201-78 victory over Ohio State Marion. They included points in a half and a game, as well as the NCAA record for margin of victory.

[edit] Alma Mater

Dear Lincoln, Dear Lincoln To Thee We'll e're be true! The golden hours we've spent beneath The dear old Orange and Blue

Will live fore'er in memory, As guiding stars through life; For thee our Alma Mater dear, We'll rise in our might.

For we love every inch of thy sacred soil Every tree on thy campus green; And for thee with our might We will ever toil That thou mightest be supreme.

We'll raise thy standard to the sky, Midst glory and honor fly; And constant and true, We will live for thee anew, Our Dear Old Orange and Blue Hail! Hail! Lincoln!

A. Dennie Bibb, '13

[edit] Further reading

Education For Freedom -A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania by Horace Mann Bond. Copyright 1976 by Lincoln University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education of Pennsylvania. Printed by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.