Livingstone College
Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Livingstone College. Founded as Zion Wesley Institute, 1879. Became College in 1885. Rev. J. C. Price president 1882-93. Named for British missionary. 5 blocks west.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Founded in 1879 as Zion Wesley Institute by the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, this school became Livingstone College in 1885 and was named for the British missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Under the Rev. Joseph Charles Price, its president from 1882 to 1893, it grew into a leading center for educating African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. It stands five blocks west.
Why it matters
As a historically Black college born of Reconstruction-era hopes, Livingstone represents the determined effort of African American churches to secure higher education in the face of Jim Crow.
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Related people
- · Joseph Charles Price
- · David Livingstone
Themes & tags
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