Lincoln University (LU) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

state-related historically black university (HBCU) near Oxford, Pennsylvania. Founded as the private Ashmun Institute in 1854, it has been a public institution since 1972. Lincoln is also recognized as the first college-degree granting HBCU in the country. Its main campus is located on near the town of Oxford in southern

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

. The university has a second location in the University City area of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Lincoln University provides undergraduate and graduate coursework to approximately 2,000 students. It is a member-school of the

Thurgood Marshall College Fund The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is a non-profit organization that supports and represents nearly 300,000 students attending its 55 member-schools that include public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), medical school ...

. While a majority of its students are

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, the university has a long history of accepting students of other races and nationalities. Women have received degrees since 1953, and made up 66% of undergraduate enrollment in 2019.

History

In 1854,

John Miller Dickey John Miller Dickey (December 15, 1806 – March 2, 1878) was an American Presbyterian minister. He and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson, a Quaker, founded Ashmun Institute on May 24, 1854, which was renamed Lincoln University in 1866 following the ...

, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister, and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, founded Ashmun Institute, later named Lincoln University, in

Hinsonville, Pennsylvania Hinsonville is a former municipality in Chester County, Pennsylvania which is now largely replaced by the grounds of Lincoln University. It was established and mostly populated by free African American residents, with the acres of Hinsonville bein ...

. They named it after

Jehudi Ashmun Jehudi Ashmun (April 21, 1794 – August 25, 1828) was an American religious leader and social reformer from New England who helped lead efforts by the American Colonization Society to "repatriate" African Americans to a colony in West Africa. I ...

, a religious leader and social reformer. They founded the school for the education of African Americans, who had few opportunities for higher education. John Miller Dickey was the first president of the college. He encouraged some of his first students, James Ralston Amos (1826–1864), his brother Thomas Henry Amos (1825–1869), and Armistead Hutchinson Miller (1829/30-1865), to support the establishment of

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

as a colony for African Americans. Each of the men became an ordained minister. In 1866, a year after the assassination of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, Ashmun Institute was renamed Lincoln University. The college attracted highly talented students from numerous states, especially during the decades of legal

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

in the American South. Many alumni furthered their careers in academia, public service, and the arts. President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

gave the commencement address at Lincoln in 1910. In June 1921, days after the

Tulsa race massacre The Tulsa race massacre was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as ...

, President

Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents w ...

visited Lincoln to deliver the commencement address. He spoke about the need to seek healing and harmony in that incident's aftermath, as well as to honor Lincoln alumni who were among the 367,000 African-American servicemen who fought in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The school newspaper noted Harding's visit as "the high water mark in the history of the institution." In 1945

Horace Mann Bond Horace Mann Bond (November 8, 1904 – December 21, 1972) was an American historian, college administrator, social science researcher and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond. He earned graduate and doctoral degrees from Universit ...

, an alumnus of Lincoln, became the first African-American president of the university. He served for twelve years. In 1946, in spite of then prevailing racial dynamics,

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

visited the university to give a lecture on Physics and also spoke on racism. This was depicted in a 2017 episode of Genius (American TV series), which dramatizes Einstein's life. From 1854 to 1954, Lincoln University graduates accounted for 20% of African American physicians and over 10% of African American lawyers in the United States. The university marked its hundredth anniversary by amending its charter in 1953 to permit the granting of degrees to women. True coeducation was slow to arrive, however, and women still constituted only 5% of the student body in 1964. In 1972 Lincoln University formally associated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a state-related institution. In November 2014, university president Robert R. Jennings resigned under pressure from faculty, students and alumni after comments relating to issues of sexual assault. Jennings was also the subject of a couple of no-confidence votes by faculty and the alumni association in October 2014. In 2017, Brenda A. Allen became Lincoln's new president. She graduated from Lincoln in 1981. In 2020,

MacKenzie Scott MacKenzie Scott ( Tuttle, formerly Bezos; born April 7, 1970) is an American novelist, philanthropist, co-founder of Amazon, and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos. As of May 2025, she has a net worth of US$35.9 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionair ...

donated $20 million to Lincoln University. Her donation is the largest single gift in Lincoln's history.

Academics

According to '' U.S. News & World Report'', Lincoln University ranks number 19 in the 2020 magazine's ranking of HBCUs. In 2020 the ''US News & World Best Colleges Report'' rated Lincoln 119 among Regional Universities North. Lincoln University's International and Study Abroad Program had student participation in Service Learning Projects in the countries of

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, Ghana,

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

The Lincoln-Barnes Visual Arts program is a collaboration between Lincoln University and the Barnes Foundation. It established a Visual Arts program that leads to a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and most recently, a Pan-Africana Studies major has been added to the list undergraduate majors available at the institution.

Campus

Lincoln University main campus is with 56 buildings totaling over one million gross square feet. There are fifteen residence halls that accommodate over 1,600 students. The residence halls range from small dorms such as Alumni Hall, built in 1870; and Amos Hall, built in 1902, to the new coed 400-bed apartment-style living (ASL) suites built in 2005. There are additional off-campus housing arrangements such as Thorn Flats, in Newark, Delaware. The campus was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2022. The four-story, Ivory V. Nelson Science Center and General Classroom High Technology Building was completed in 2008. The International Cultural Center was completed in 2010. The Health and Wellness Center is a facility that opened in 2012. There is also a football stadium on campus. One of the most visible landmarks on campus is the Alumni Memorial Arch, located at the entrance to the university. The arch was dedicated by President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

in 1921, to honor the Lincoln men who served in

. The

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

Memorial Library (LHML): Vail Memorial Library served as the first physical library building on the Lincoln University campus. Its collection outgrew the building's capacity after notable 1929 alumnus and renowned poet, James Mercer Langston Hughes, bequeathed the contents of his personal library to the university upon his death in 1967. Construction of a larger building was underway in 1970. The new Langston Hughes Memorial Library (LHML) opened in 1972. Holdings include over 185,000 volumes as well as databases containing in excess of 30,000 journal titles, periodicals, eBooks, and media offerings. The completely renovated Student Union Building contains the bookstore, café, two television studios, and a radio studio, postal services, and multipurpose rooms. The

Thurgood Marshall Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme C ...

Living Learning Center, along with the Student Union Building, are the centers for campus social and meeting activities. Marshall graduated in the class of 1930, directed the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

Legal Defense Fund In the United States, a legal defense fund (or LDF) is an account set up to pay for legal expenses, which can include attorneys' fees, court filings, litigation costs, legal advice, or other legal fees. The fund can be public or private and is se ...

in groundbreaking cases, and was the first African American to be appointed as a justice to

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

Lincoln University is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) for statistical purposes. As of the 2010 census, Lincoln University CDP had a resident population of 1,726.

Satellites

Lincoln University—University City, a six-story building in the University City section of Philadelphia, offers select undergraduate and graduate programs in the School of Adult & Continuing Education.

Student activities

Lincoln has over 60 student organizations serving multiple interests including fashion, arts, social justice, religious, international, cultural, service, leisure, media, and publishing. There are numerous fraternities and sororities. A complete list of active clubs and organizations can be found at the university's website. ; Student publications, radio, and television * Newspaper: ''The Lincolnian'' * Yearbook: ''The Lion'' * Campus radio station: WWLU * Campus television station: LUC-TV

Athletics

Lincoln University participates in the NCAA as a Division II institution. Lincoln competes as a Division II member of the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (originally and through 1950 known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association — CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

and, the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...

. Lincoln Lions compete in intercollegiate athletics in the following sports: baseball, soccer (women), basketball (men & women), volleyball (women), indoor track (men & women), outdoor track (men & women), cross-country (men & women), softball, and football.

The Barnes Foundation

As president of Lincoln University (1945–1957),

formed a friendship with Albert C. Barnes, philanthropist and art collector who established the

Barnes Foundation The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, ...

. Barnes took a special interest in the institution and built a relationship with its students. Barnes gave Lincoln University the privilege of naming four of the five directors originally set as the number for the governing board of the Barnes Foundation. Barnes had an interest in helping under-served youth and populations. Barnes intended his $25 billion art collection to be used primarily as a teaching resource. He limited the number of people who could view it, and for years even the kinds of people, with a preference for students and working class. Visitors still must make appointments in advance to see the collection, and only a limited number are allowed in the galleries at one time. In the mid-20th century, local government restricted traffic to the current campus, located in a residential neighborhood located at 300 North Latch's Lane,

Merion, Pennsylvania Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower ...

. Barnes' constraints, local factors, and management issues pushed the Foundation near bankruptcy by the 1990s. Supporters began to explore plans to move the collection to a more public location and maintain it to museum standards. To raise money for needed renovations to the main building to protect the collection, the Foundation sent some of the most famous Impressionist and Modern paintings on tour. In 2002, the

Attorney General of Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current attorney general is Republican Dave Sunday (politician), Dave ...

D. Michael Fisher Dennis Michael Fisher (born November 7, 1944) is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also serves as the Distinguished Jurist in Residence ...

contested Albert C. Barnes'

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

, arguing that the Merion location of the collection and small number of board members limited the Foundation's ability to sustain itself financially.

Pennsylvania Governor The governor of Pennsylvania is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as commander-in-chief of the state's national guard. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to approve or veto bills pass ...

Edward Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American politician, author, and former prosecutor who served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011. He previously served as chair of the national Democratic Party from 1999 to 2 ...

brokered a settlement in 2005 between the Barnes Foundation and Lincoln University. This agreement resulted in the number of directors increasing. This has diluted Lincoln's influence over the collection, now valued at approximately twenty-five billion dollars. A documentary named The Art of the Steal depicts the events.

Notable alumni

Lincoln University has numerous notable alumni, including

Justice

; Harlem Renaissance poet

;

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient and pioneering African-American editor Christian Fleetwood; former US Ambassador to Botswana,

Horace Dawson Horace Greeley Dawson, Jr. (born January 30, 1926) is an American retired diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Botswana. Life and career Dawson was born in Augusta, Georgia on January 30, 1926. After graduation from high school, ...

; civil rights activist Frederick D. Alexander; the first president of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, was a Nigerian politician, statesman, and revolutionary leader who served as the 3rd and first black governor-general of Nigeria from 1960 ...

; the first president of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

; song artist and activist

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackso ...

;

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning and

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-nominated actor

Roscoe Lee Browne Roscoe Lee Browne (May 2, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American actor and theatre director, director. He resisted playing Stereotypes of African Americans, stereotypically black roles, instead performing in several productions with New York Ci ...

; Robert Walter Johnson, tennis coach of

Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African America ...

and

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...

; Melvin B. Tolson, teacher and coach of the

Wiley College Wiley University (formerly Wiley College) is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the ...

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of ...

, debate team portrayed in the film ''

The Great Debaters ''The Great Debaters'' is a 2007 American historical drama film directed by Denzel Washington from a screenplay by Robert Eisele and based on a 1997 article for '' American Legacy'' by Tony Scherman. The film follows the trials and tribulations o ...

'';

Sheila Oliver Sheila Yvette Oliver (July 14, 1952 – August 1, 2023) was an American politician who served as the second lieutenant governor of New Jersey from 2018 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Oliver was the first Black woman ...

lieutenant governor of New Jersey The lieutenant governor of New Jersey is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the state government of New Jersey in the United States. The lieutenant governor is the second highest-ranking official in the state government ...

;

Joseph Newman Clinton Joseph Newman Clinton (November 19, 1854 – 1927) was a politician and public official in Florida. An African American, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from Alachua County from 1881 to 1883, was a member of the city council in ...

, member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

; Luis Ernesto Ramos Yordán of the House of Representatives for

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

; and politician, Baptist minister, radio host, author, and activist

Conrad Tillard Conrad Bennette Tillard (born September 15, 1964) is an American Baptist minister, radio host, activist, politician, and author. Tillard was in his early years a prominent minister of the black nationalist organization the Nation of Islam (NOI) ...

. Notable offspring of Lincoln University alumni include musical legend

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

; musician and choral director

Hall Johnson Francis Hall Johnson (March 12, 1888 – April 30, 1970) was an American composer and arranger of African-American spiritual music. He is one of a group—including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Eva Jessye—who had great success per ...

; civil rights activist

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the ea ...

; internationally renowned singer, actor, and activist

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

; lawyer, author, Episcopal priest and activist

Pauli Murray Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist, advocate, legal scholar and theorist, author and – later in life – an Episcopal priest. Murray's work influenced the civil r ...

; lawyer, educator and writer Sadie T. M. Alexander; poet and playwright

Angelina Weld Grimké Angelina Weld Grimké (February 27, 1880 – June 10, 1958) was an African Americans, African-American journalist, teacher, playwright, and poet. By ancestry, Grimké was three-quarters white — the child of a white mother and a half-white f ...

; actor

Malcolm-Jamal Warner Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992), which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a ...

; actress

Leslie Uggams Leslie Marian Uggams (; born May 25, 1943) is an American actress and singer. After beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, she garnered acclaim for her role in the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Hallelujah, Baby!'', winning a T ...

and actress

Wendy Williams Wendy Williams Hunter (; born July 18, 1964) is an American former broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Prior to television, Williams was a radio DJ and host and quickly became known in New York City as a shock jock. She gained notori ...

. Lincoln University has alumni who founded the following six colleges and universities in the United States and abroad:

South Carolina State University South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. It is the only public, historically black land-grant research university in South Carolina, is a member o ...

(

Thomas E. Miller Thomas Ezekiel Miller (June 17, 1849 – April 8, 1938) was an American educator, lawyer and politician. After being elected as a state legislator in South Carolina, he was one of only five African Americans elected to Congress from the Sou ...

Livingstone College Livingstone College is a private historically black Christian college in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Livingstone College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges ...

( Joseph Charles Price),

Albany State University Albany State University is a Public university, public Historically Black College and University, historically black university in Albany, Georgia, United States. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become ...

( Joseph Winthrop Holley),

Allen University Allen University is a private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus ...

(William Decker Johnson),

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

( Raphael O'Hara Lanier), Ibibio State College (Nigeria) ( Ibanga Akpabio) and the

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), commonly known as UST, Tech or Kwame Tech, is a public university located in Kumasi, Ashanti region, Ghana. The university focuses on science and technology. It is the second public uni ...

(Ghana) (King Osei Tutu). Lincoln University has two alumni honored with commemorative stamps by the United States Postal Service:

(BA 1930) and

(BA 1929).

Notable staff

File:James L Farmer Jr.jpg, alt=Civil rights activist James Farmer, James Farmer File:Fritz_Pollard_football_player.jpg, alt=Fritz Pollard, posing with a football, Fritz Pollard * John Aubrey Davis, Sr., professor of political science (1949–53) *

James Farmer James Leonard Farmer Jr. (January 12, 1920 – July 9, 1999) was an American civil rights activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement "who pushed for nonviolent protest to dismantle segregation, and served alongside Martin Luther King Jr." ...

, civil rights activist *

Philip S. Foner Philip Sheldon Foner (December 14, 1910 – December 13, 1994) was an American labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books. He is considered a pioneer in his extensive works on the role of radical ...

, historian, educator, and activist * Charles V. Hamilton, political scientist, educator, and civil rights activist * Irv Mondschein, track, basketball, and football coach *

Doug Overton Douglas M. Overton (born August 3, 1969) is an American retired professional basketball player and coach. Playing career Prior to his NBA career, Overton spent a season with the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian NBL. He credits his experience ...

, men's basketball head coach (2016–2020), former NBA point guard *

Fritz Pollard Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American professional football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Mar ...

, football coach (1918–20), first African-American NFL coach"Pollard was first black head coach in NFL history"
, ESPN, August 4, 2005.

Notes

:A.Founder and President of the Board of Trustees, Ashmun Institute and Lincoln University :B.First alumni president and first Black president

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{Authority control 1854 establishments in Pennsylvania African-American history of Pennsylvania Antebellum educational institutions that admitted African Americans Census-designated places in Chester County, Pennsylvania Census-designated places in Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education Historically black universities and colleges in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Chester County, Pennsylvania Public universities and colleges in Pennsylvania Universities and colleges established in 1854 Universities and colleges in Chester County, Pennsylvania