On this day, three historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were founded or formally chartered:

• Alabama A&M University (originally Huntsville Normal School) was established by a former slave, Dr. William Hooper Councill, to train African American teachers in the post-Civil War South.

• Knoxville College in Tennessee, founded by the United Presbyterian Church, aimed to provide advanced education to freedmen and their descendants.

• Lane College, established by the Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church in Jackson, Tennessee, focused on religious and liberal arts education for African Americans.

These institutions played—and continue to play—a vital role in educating generations of Black students and developing African American leadership across the United States.