Lincoln University (Lincoln U) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Jefferson City, Missouri. Founded in 1866 by African-American veterans of the American Civil War, it is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. This was the first black university in the state. In the fall 2023, the university enrolled 1,799 students.
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History
During the Civil War, the 62nd Colored Infantry regiment of the U.S. Army, largely recruited in Missouri, set up educational programs for its soldiers. At the end of the war it raised $6,300 to set up a black school, headed by a white abolitionist officer, Richard Foster, and founded by James Milton Turner, a student and protege of John Berry Meachum.
Foster opened the Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City in 1866. Lincoln had a black student body, both black and white teachers, and outside support from religious groups. The state government provided $5,000 a year to train teachers for the state's new public school system for blacks, including mostly formerly enslaved men and women.
Under the Morrill Act of 1890, Missouri designated the school a land-grant university, emphasizing agriculture, mechanics and teaching. This provision helped to establish funding for its operations.
By 1921, the college had expanded to offer graduate programs. It was officially designated a university by the state of Missouri. It changed its name to Lincoln University of Missouri. In 1954, it opened its doors to applicants of all ethnicities. It provides both undergraduate and graduate courses.
On May 22, 2019, Jefferson City was hit by an EF3 tornado, causing significant damage to the historic President's Residence near the campus.
In May 2021, Lincoln University President Jerald Woolfolk announced her plans to step down at the end of that school year.
In 2024, Lincoln University alumni called for president John B. Moseley to step down following the suicide of vice-president Antoinette Candia-Bailey. She had complained of harassment and unfair treatment by him. In the ensuing months, an independent investigation was carried out by the University's Board of Curators. President of the Board of Curators, Victor B. Pasley, stated "during this exhaustive, independent investigation, no evidence was found that Dr. Moseley bullied Dr. Candia-Bailey." After two months of voluntary leave, Moseley was reinstated as President of Lincoln University of Missouri. Sherman Bonds, president of the Lincoln University Alumni Association, issued a statement questioning the investigation's findings and accusing the board of causing "irrevocable harm, shame, hopelessness, and mortification to our beloved University."
Athletics
The Lincoln University athletic teams are called the Blue Tigers. The university is a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) since the 2024–25 academic year. The Blue Tigers previously competed in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) from 2010–11 to 2023–24 (which they were a member on a previous stint from 1970–71 to 1998–99, but later left because it had not had a football team since after the 1989 fall season), as well as the Heartland Conference, of which it was a founding conference member, from 1999–2000 to 2009–10.
Lincoln competes in twelve intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer, and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball and track & field.
The school revitalized its football program and re-entered the MIAA in 2010. The Lincoln University Women's Track Team made NCAA Division II history by winning the Outdoor Track and Field Championships five consecutive times.
Alma Mater "Lincoln, O, Lincoln"
The alma mater is sung to the tune of "Ach wie ist's möglich dann", a German folk song published in 1827 and variously credited to Georg Heinrich or Friedrich Silcher Kuchen (the West Point and Wake Forest alma mater songs use the same melody).
Student activities
Founder's Day, traditionally held on the first Saturday of February, pays tribute to the founders of Lincoln University. Homecoming, usually held in October, is a celebratory time when family and friends of Lincoln University convene to participate in gala activities. Springfest, usually held in late April, celebrates the arrival of spring with games and other activities throughout the week.
Marching Musical Storm
The "Marching Musical Storm" is the university's marching band. It was founded in 1948 and is one of the largest student organizations on campus. The band performs at all home football games, select basketball games, and other school-sanctioned functions throughout the year.
Student media
The Clarion (university newspaper)
KJLU (radio station)
JCTV (Public-access television)
Notable faculty and staff
Alan T. Busby (1895–1992), first African American alumnus of the University of Connecticut in 1918.
Antoinette Candia-Bailey (1974–2024), vice president of student affairs at Lincoln University
Joseph Carter Corbin (1833–1911), first principal of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Charles Edgar Dickinson Jr. (1908–1964), landscape architect and educator; first Black member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Myrtle Craig Mowbray (1883–1974), first African-American woman to graduate from Michigan State University in 1907
Oliver Cromwell Cox (1901–1974), member of the Chicago School of Sociology and early world-systems theorist who taught at Lincoln (1949–1970)
Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882–1943), classical composer
Sumner Alexander Furniss, first Black doctor at Indiana City Hospital, politician, activist, and freemason
Althea Gibson (1927–2003), black tennis pioneer, Wimbledon, French Open, and US Open champion; athletics instructor in the early 1950s
Lorenzo Greene (1899–1988), historian who taught at Lincoln University (1933–1972)
Eugene Haynes (1927–2007), Artist in Residence at Lincoln University (1958–1974)
Armistead S. Pride (1907–1991), journalist and head of Lincoln's journalism department from 1943 to 1976
Notable alumni
Antoinette Candia-Bailey (1974–2024), academic administrator
Maida Coleman (born 1954), senate minority leader in Missouri
Oleta Crain (1913–2007), advocate for black women's rights and desegregation
William Stanford Davis (born 1951), actor Abbott Elementary (2021–present)
Rita Heard Days (born 1950), member of both houses of the Missouri State Legislature
Lloyd L. Gaines (born 1911 – disappeared 1939), disappeared mysteriously after fighting for the right to equal education
Dorothy Butler Gilliam (born 1936), first African-American female reporter at The Washington Post, co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Exie Lee Hampton (1893–1979), active in YWCA, NAACP, Urban League, and settlement work in southern California
Julius Hemphill (1938–1995), jazz musician
George Howard, Jr. (1924–2007), first African-American federal judge in Arkansas
Ann Walton Kroenke (born 1948), Walmart heiress and sports team owner, nursing degree
Oliver Lake (born 1942), jazz musician
Leo Lewis (1933–2013), member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame
Blaine Luetkemeyer (born 1952), U.S. Congressman