Earl Cochran

Alabama State University, founded 1867, is a historically black university located in Montgomery, Alabama. ASU is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. Alabama State University founded in 1856 as the Lincoln Normal School of Marion in Marion. In December 1873, the State Board... accepted the transfer of title to the school after a legislative act was passed authorizing the state to fund a Normal School, and George N. Card was named President. Thus, in 1874, this predecessor of Alabama State University became America's first state-supported educational institution for blacks. This began ASU’s history as a “Teacher’s College.” In 1878, the second president, William Paterson, was appointed. He is honored as a founder of Alabama State University and was the president for 37 of the first 48 years of its existence. Paterson was instrumental in the move from Marion to Montgomery in 1887. In 1887, the university opened in its new location in Montgomery but an Alabama State Supreme Court ruling forced the school to change its name; thus, the school was renamed the Normal School for Colored Students.
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