Our story · institution history
A university that kept opening doors
From Ashmun Institute’s 1854 charter to today’s Lincoln University, a southern Chester County campus has made education part of the freedom story.
Chapter 01
A school born from exclusion
Ashmun Institute received its Pennsylvania charter on April 29, 1854. Lincoln University identifies it as the nation’s first degree-granting historically Black college and university. Its own history explains that founder John Miller Dickey had struggled to find college admission for a young freedman, James Amos. The school’s founding answered a real barrier in higher education, even as its first plan was limited to male students.
Chapter 02
A changing name and mission
The institution took the name Lincoln University in 1866. Its history describes plans to expand beyond the original institute and to enroll students across backgrounds. These ambitions developed unevenly over time. They are part of what makes the university a continuing institution rather than a single founding date on the timeline.
Chapter 03
Who could study and graduate
Lincoln’s history states that a 1953 charter amendment permitted it to grant degrees to women. The university became a state-related, coeducational institution in 1972. Read beside the 1854 charter, those later decisions make the changing boundaries of access visible. The current university describes a southern Chester County campus, with students and programs extending beyond the county.
Chapter 04
Archives of an institution at work
Lincoln’s library describes trustee and committee record books beginning in 1853 and continuing into the twentieth century. Minutes and reports can reveal how an institution made decisions, raised money, changed curricula, and responded to the world outside campus. They are administrative records, not a complete picture of student experience; that is a question to bring to other collections and oral histories.
Chapter 05
A living place, not a monument
Lincoln’s history names graduates whose work reached far beyond Chester County, including Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall. Their accomplishments are widely known, but the local connection begins with a campus and the people who maintained it. The best way to keep this story current is to read the university’s own record and recognize students, faculty, and staff as part of its present tense.
Keep exploring
Take this story further.
- Read Lincoln’s history
The university’s own account of its beginnings and evolution.
- Explore Lincoln’s archives
Start with trustee and committee records.
- Continue with freedom and community
Follow additional county records and institutions.
Research notesClaim checks and source trail
Each note records what the linked source supports. An index, institutional account, or brief page may leave parts of the story untold.
Lincoln University dates Ashmun Institute’s charter to April 29, 1854 and identifies itself as the first degree-granting HBCU.
Verified · 2026-09-26Lincoln’s history describes founder John Miller Dickey’s effort to secure admission for James Amos and the institute’s initial plan to educate Black male students.
Qualified · 2026-09-26Lincoln’s history dates the name change to 1866 and discusses expansion of the institution’s mission.
Verified · 2026-09-26Lincoln’s history dates the charter amendment permitting degrees for women to 1953.
Verified · 2026-09-26Lincoln’s history dates its state-related, coeducational status to 1972.
Verified · 2026-09-26Lincoln’s university-facts page places its main campus in southern Chester County.
Verified · 2026-09-26Lincoln’s archive describes trustee and committee record books from 1853 into the twentieth century.
Verified · 2026-09-26Lincoln’s institutional history lists Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall among its graduates.
Verified · 2026-09-26