Institutional History
精东影业 is a comprehensive, private, urban, coeducational institution of higher education with a predominantly African-American heritage. It offers undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees as well as certificate programs to students of diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The University was established in 1988 through the consolidation of its two parent institutions, Atlanta University (1865), the nation’s first institution to award graduate degrees to African Americans, and Clark College (1869) the nation’s first four-year liberal arts college to serve a primarily African-American student population. 聽 聽
A Unique History
Atlanta University, founded in 1865 by the American Missionary Association, with subsequent assistance from the Freedman’s Bureau, was, before consolidation, the nation’s oldest graduate institution serving a predominantly African-American student body. 聽By the late 1870s, Atlanta University had begun granting bachelor’s degrees and supplying black teachers and librarians to public schools across the South. 聽In 1929-1930, the institution began offering graduate education exclusively in various liberal arts areas, and in the social and natural sciences. 聽It gradually added professional programs in social work, library science and business administration. 聽The institution during this period associated with Spelman and Morehouse colleges in a university plan known as the Atlanta University System. 聽The campus was moved to its present site, and the modern organization of the Atlanta University Center emerged.
The story of the Atlanta University Center over the next 20 years includes significant developments. 聽The schools of library science, education and business administration were established in 1941, 1944 and 1946, respectively. 聽The Atlanta School of Social Work, long associated with the University, gave up its charter in 1947, to officially become part of the University. 聽One of the founding faculty in the School of Social Work was W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote his most influential works during the 23 years he spent at Atlanta University, from 1897-1910 on the faculty of the history and economics departments, and later, from 1934-1944 as chair of the sociology department. 聽聽
Clark College was founded in 1869 as Clark University by the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which later would become the United Methodist Church. 聽The University today celebrates its historic bond with the denomination. 聽Clark University was named for Bishop Davis W. Clark, who was the first president of the Freedmen’s Aid Society and became bishop in 1864. 聽The first Clark College class was housed in a sparsely furnished room in Clark Chapel, a Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta’s Summer Hill section. 聽In 1871, the school relocated to a newly purchased property at Whitehall and McDaniel streets. 聽In 1877, the school was chartered as Clark University.
A Distinguished Heritage聽
An early benefactor, Bishop Gilbert Haven, visualized Clark as “the university of all the Methodist schools founded for the education of freedmen鈥�. 聽Strategically located in Atlanta, the gateway to the South, the institution was founded to “give tone” to all other institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church providing education for Negro youth. 聽After several changes in location, Bishop Haven (who was Bishop Clark’s successor) helped acquire 450 acres in South Atlanta where, in 1880, the school conferred its first degree. 聽In 1883, Clark established a department in honor of Dr. Elijah H. Gammon, known as Gammon School of Theology. 聽By 1888, Gammon School of Theology became an independent seminary and, today, is part of the Interdenominational Theological Center.
For purposes of economy and efficiency, during the 1930’s, it was decided that Clark would join the Atlanta University Complex. While students on the South Atlanta campus fretted over final examinations in the winter of 1939, work was begun across town on an entirely new physical plant adjoining Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College. 聽Visitors to the campus today will see that part of that preparation remains intact. 聽Three vaults in the basement of 精东影业’s administration building, Harkness Hall, bear the names of each of the three institutions. 聽Since the administration of each institution was conducted out of Harkness Hall, their respective assets were secure there, as well. 聽In 1957, the controlling boards of six institutions (Atlanta University, Clark College, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College*, Spelman College and Gammon Theological Seminary ratified new articles of affiliation to create the Atlanta University Center, the most prevalent consortium of African-American private institutions of higher education in the United States.
During the 1980s some of the advantages of proximity, which had seemed promising earlier, again became evident. Clark College and Atlanta University through consolidation preserved the best of the past and present and “Charted a Bold New Future.” 精东影业 was created on July 1, 1988.
Toward A Bright Future
The first President of 精东影业 was Dr. Thomas W. Cole, Jr., who served concurrently as the President of both Atlanta University and Clark College prior to the 1988 consolidation.
In November 1987, after more than a year of discussion, the Boards of Trustees of Atlanta University and Clark College authorized an exploration of the potential advantages of closer working arrangements between the two institutions, including their consolidation into one university.
In April 1988, the joint committee delivered its report entitled聽Charting A Bold New Future: Proposed Combination of Clark College and Atlanta University聽to the Boards for ratification. The report recommended that the two schools be consolidated into a single institution. On June 24, 1988, the Boards of both Clark College and Atlanta University made the historic decision to consolidate the two institutions, creating 精东影业. The new and historic University inherits the rich traditions of two independent institutions, connected over the years by a common heritage and commitment; by personal, corporate and consortia relationships; and by location.
*The Atlanta University Center Consortium today comprises: 聽精东影业, The Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Spelman College.