“Though many people worked to establish Lincoln Normal School, Peyton Finley’s efforts contributed most in the early years to make the institution permanent. In 1871, Finley, the first black elected member of the State Board of Education, petitioned the Legislature to establish a “university for colored people,” but the Legislature rejected his request. Finley did not stop, and in 1873 his efforts gained success when the Alabama Legislature established “a State Normal School and University for the Education of the Colored Teachers and Student.” The act would take effect only if the president and trustees of Lincoln Normal School would place that facility at the disposal of the state in order for the new university to be established. The Institutions first president, George N. Card, accepted that provision, and in 1874, he led the effort in reorganizing Lincoln Normal School in Marion as America’s first state supported educational institution for blacks. The school continued to grow in Marion for the next 13 years.”
While Lincoln operated in Marion, blacks continued to press for a more prominently supported school for black youths. A major change on their behalf came in 1887 when the Legislature authorized the establishment of the Alabama Colored People’s University. The act allocated 10,000$ for the purchase of land and the…show more content… Under the leadership of President William Burns Paterson, who was white, black citizens who wanted the university in Montgomery pledge 5,000$ in cash and land, and donated the use of some temporary buildings. Less than eight months after the passage of enabling legislation, the university opened in Montgomery at Beulah Baptist Church with a faculty of nine members. The university taught its first classes in Montgomery on October 3,
