Martin Henry Freeman (1826–1889) was the first Black president of an American college, as well as later serving as president of Liberia College.
Freeman was born in Rutland, Vermont in 1826. He attended Middlebury College where he graduated as salutatorian in 1849. The following year he was appointed a professor of mathematics and science at the Allegheny Institute (later Avery College) in Pennsylvania. He was named president of the college in 1856.
During the Civil War, Freeman became active in the African emigration movement. He moved to Liberia in 1864. He continued his work as a professor at Liberia College and was named as president of that college shortly before his death.
Dr. Russell Irvine of Georgia State University wrote the first biography of Martin Henry Freeman.