Livingstone College

Livingstone College

Livingstone College Seal
Former names
 Zion Wesley Institute
Motto A Call To Commitment. Taking Livingstone College to the next level
Established 1879
Type Private, HBCU
Affiliation African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
President Dr. Jimmy Jenkins
Academic staff
 80
Students 1,200
Location Salisbury, North Carolina,
United States
Campus Small town 272 acres (1.10 km2)
Colors Columbia blue and Black
         
Athletics NCAA Division II
Sports basketball
bowling
cross-country
football
softball
volleyball
tennis
track and field
Nickname Blue Bears
Affiliations Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Website www.livingstone.edu
Livingstone College Historic District
Livingstone College, September 2012
Location W. Monroe St., Salisbury, North Carolina
Coordinates 35°40′14″N 80°28′59″W / 35.67056°N 80.48306°WCoordinates: 35°40′14″N 80°28′59″W / 35.67056°N 80.48306°W
Area 23 acres (9.3 ha)
Built 1882
Architectural style Victorian Eclectic
Governing body Local
NRHP Reference # 82003509[1]
Added to NRHP May 27, 1982

Livingstone College is a private, historically black, four-year college in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Livingstone College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Social Work degrees.

History

Livingstone College along with Hood Theological Seminary began as Zion Wesley Institute in Concord, North Carolina in 1879. After fundraising by Dr. J. C. Price and Bishop J. W. Hood, the school was closed in Concord and re-opened in 1882 a few miles north in Salisbury.[2]

Zion Wesley Institute was originally founded by the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church. The institute changed its name to Livingstone College in 1887 to honor African missionary David Livingstone. That same year, the school granted its first degree.[3] The first group of students to graduate included eight men and two women, the first black women to earn bachelor's degrees in North Carolina. [4]

Originally beginning with 40 acres on a Salisbury farm called Delta Grove,[2] Livingstone College now consists of 272 acres.[5]

Livingstone College Historic District

The Livingstone College Historic District is a national historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1] The district encompasses 16 contributing buildings, 1 contributing structure, and 1 contributing object on the Livingstone College campus and adjacent residential sections in Salisbury. Notable buildings include the Price house (1884), Harris house (1889), Aggrey house (1912), Ballard Hall (1887), Dodge Hall (1886), Carnegie Library (1908), Goler Hall (1917), Hood Building (1910), and Price Memorial Building (1930-1943).[6]

Student activities

The College offers a number of opportunities for students to participate in religious, social, cultural, recreational, and athletic activities.

Additionally, outstanding artists and lecturers are brought to campus to perform each year. Included in the Division of Student Services are Residence Life, Health Services, Student Activities/Smith Anderson Clark Student Center, Campus Ministry, and the Counseling Center.

Athletics

On the campus is an athletic marker erected in 1956 to commemorate the first African-American intercollegiate football game, in 1892.[6]

Livingstone is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Division II, and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Its intercollegiate sports programs include basketball, bowling, cross-country, football, softball, volleyball, tennis, golf, and track and field. The nickname for the school's teams is the Blue Bears.

The Livingstone College football team has had a long history since playing in the first Black college football game in 1892 against Johnson C. Smith University (then called Biddle University).[7]

Notable alumni

Name Class year Notability Reference(s)
James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey preacher, Pan-African thinker and educator
George Lincoln Blackwell 1888 theologian and author
Solomon Carter Fuller 1893 psychiatrist who made significant contributions to the study of Alzheimer's disease
Ben Coates 1990 former NFL All-Pro tight end for New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens
James Benson Dudley was President of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina from 1896 until his death in 1925
Elizabeth Duncan Koontz 1938 1st Black President of the National Education Association & head of the United States Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor
Vergel L. Lattimore Air National Guard Brigadier General
Rev. John Kinard 1960 Minister, community activist, and first director of the Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, D.C.
Philip A. Payton, Jr. known as the "Father of Harlem"
Wilmont Perry 1997 former NFL running back for the New Orleans Saints
John Terry 1991 former CFL All-Star for the Saskatchewan Roughriders
Pedro Guanikeyu Torres 1973 Taino Indian civil rights activist
Norman Yokely former baseball pitcher in negro league baseball. He played from 1926 to 1946 with several teams

Notable faculty

Name Department Notability Reference
Rufus Early Clement was the sixth and longest-serving president of historically black Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia.
George James was a South American historian and author, best known for his 1954 book Stolen Legacy, in which he argued that Greek philosophy originated in ancient Egypt.
Natrone Means Former professional American Football running back who played for the San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Carolina Panthers of the NFL from 1993 to 2000.
Carolyn R. Payton
Norries Wilson he served as the first African-American head football coach in the Ivy League, with the Columbia University football team.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "About Livingstone". Livingstone College. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ Franz, Alyssa. "Livingstone College (1879-- )". Online Encyclopedia of Significant People and Places in African American History. BlackPast.org. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  4. ↑ Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth (1996). Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0807845967.
  5. ↑ Campbell, Sarah (February 14, 2011). "Livingstone College has history of producing leaders". The Salisbury Post. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dave Brown (June 1980). "Livingstone College Historic District" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  7. ↑ Greenlee, Craig T. (June 17, 2007). "Small schools - Where Football Is An Activity, Not a Business". Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Retrieved May 4, 2012.

External links