July 18 …
Lincoln Normal School — the forerunner of Alabama State University (ASU) — arose from the efforts of newly emancipated Blacks and mission-minded whites during the early years of freedom.
Nine freedmen from Marion, Alabama, remembered as the “Marion Nine,” joined forces with the interracial American Missionary Association (AMA) in 1867 to help establish the school.
The Marion Nine — Joey P. Pinch, Thomas Speed, Nicholas Dale, James Childs, Thomas Lee, John Freeman, Nathan Levert, David Harris and Alexander H. Curtis — co-founded and with assistance from Marion community members, raised $500 for land.
On July 18, 1867 they filed incorporation papers to establish the Lincoln Normal School at Marion, which opened its doors on November 13, 1867, with 113 students.
Given the condition of most freedmen, the school’s founding curriculum provided basic literacy lessons, but also included a classical curriculum for more advanced students that focused on Greek, Latin, mathematics, English, history, philosophy, biology, political science, and chemistry.
In 1873, this predecessor of Alabama State University became the nation’s first state-sponsored liberal arts institution for the higher education of Blacks, beginning ASU’s rich history as a “Teacher’s College.”
Lincoln Normal School remained in Marion for 13 years, until late 1886, when a local altercation between white Howard College students, also in Marion, and Black Lincoln students led a group of white citizens to petition its removal. The white complainants argued that Lincoln’s presence dissuaded prospective white students from coming to Marion. The state legislature agreed, pledging in 1887 to fund a Black college or university anywhere but Marion.
After meeting similar opposition in several alternative cities, the school’s trustees ultimately chose Montgomery as the school’s new locale. The state legislature ratified the choice, authorizing the establishment of the Alabama Colored People’s University and allotted funds for both the purchase of land and the construction of buildings, as well as an annual budget for operating expenses.
In 1928, Lincoln Normal School officially converted from a junior college to a four-year institution, and in 1929 changed its name to State Teachers College. Three years later it offered its first baccalaureate degrees in teacher education. The graduate division awarded its first master’s degree in 1943.
Name changes reflected the continued evolution of the institution: Alabama State College for Negroes in 1948, and Alabama State College in 1954. In 1969, the State Board of Education, then the governing body of the university, approved its final name change to Alabama State University.
Alabama State University’s professors and students played a major role in the city’s famous bus boycott and sit-in movement that sparked the Civil Rights movement. They challenged the racial segregation laws of Montgomery Alabama and the South. After ASU students held a sit-in at the Montgomery County Courthouse, state officials committed to segregation retaliated by cutting appropriations to the school, resulting in the loss of accreditation in 1961. Several ASU students were suspended, but the movement had begun. The school regained its accreditation in 1966, and in 1969 the State Board of Education approved the school for university status.
Several national Civil Rights leaders are products of ASU, including: Rev. Ralph David Abernathy (1950); Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (1952); and the renowned civil rights lawyer and state legislator, Fred Gray (1951).
Other notable alumni include the rapper, 2 Chainz (from 1995-1997); the Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, Clarence Carter (1960); and the comedian/actor Rickey Smiley (1992).
Source:
- Brooks, F. Erik, “Alabama State University,” in Encyclopedia of Alabama, May 9, 2024.
