LeMoyne-Owen College

LeMoyne-Owen College is a fully accredited, four-year private historically black college located in Memphis, Tennessee, affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It was founded in 1862 to provide freedmen an education. LeMoyne-Owen College was formed through the 1968 merger of LeMoyne College and Owen College, both private, historically black, church-affiliated colleges. LeMoyne Normal and Commercial School traces its history to 1862 when the American Missionary Association sent Lucinda Humphrey to open an elementary school at Camp Shiloh for freedmen and escaped slaves. This was one of... more than ten schools founded by the AMA, an integrated organization led by black and white Congregational and Presbyterian ministers. This was soon after the occupation of Memphis by Federal troops during the Civil War. First known as Lincoln Chapel, the school relocated to Memphis in 1863. In 1866 it was destroyed during race riots that followed the withdrawal of federal troops. The school was rebuilt and in 1867 it reopened with 150 students and six teachers.
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