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February 14, 1867

Morehouse College Established in Georgia

Morehouse College is often cited as one of the premier institutions among America's historically black colleges and universities. Its founding in Augusta, G. A.., on this date in 1867 recalls the determination among newly-freed slaves to attain the benefits of education.

Originally called the Augusta Institute, it was housed in the basement of the Springfield Baptist Church. In 1879, the college moved to a church in Atlanta. After several name changes, it became Morehouse College (still in Atlanta) in 1913. Morehouse is one of only four all-male four-year colleges remaining in the United States. (Although Morehouse is one of the best-known of the historically black colleges, it was not the first. That honor belongs to Cheyney University, founded in Cheyney, Pa. in 1837. There are about 100 historically black colleges and university in the U.S.)