History in brief

1881

Founded as Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary by Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles

School opens April 11 in basement of Friendship Baptist Church, the Rev. Frank Quarles, pastor

1882

Two more teachers commissioned by the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society join Packard and Giles in "basement school"

Packard and Giles introduced to John D. Rockefeller who pledges $250 to the school

1883

Moved to present site occupying nine acres and five frame buildings

"Model School" to train student-teachers opens

1884

Name changes to Spelman Seminary in honor of Mrs. Laura Spelman Rockefeller and her parents Harvey Buel and Lucy Henry Spelman, longtime activists in the antislavery movement.

1885

Spelman students print first issue of the Spelman Messenger

Sophia Jones, M.D., first black female to join the faculty

1886

Rockefeller Hall dedicated

Nurse training department begins

1887

First Spelman class graduates receiving high school diplomas

1888

Packard Hall dedicated

Spelman incorporated under Board of Trustees

Charter granted by state of Georgia

Henry L. Morehouse becomes first president of Board of Trustees

1889

Nora Gordon, the first student to become a missionary to Africa, leaves for the Congo

1890

Laundry building dedicated

1891

Death of Sophia Packard

Harriet Giles appointed president

Missionary training department starts

Quarles Library opens in Packard Hall

Two students from Africa, Maggie Rattray and Lena Clark, enroll

1892

Teachers professional department begins

Spelman Alumnae Association organized

1893

Giles Hall dedicated

1895

Spelman exhibit included in Negro Building of Atlanta Cotton States Exposition

1897

College department opens

1901

Morehouse and Morgan Halls, MacVicar Hospital, and Reynolds Cottage dedicated

First college degrees granted to Jane Anna Granderson and Claudia T. White

1904

Graduate establishes school in Africa, which later includes building named Spelman Hall

1905

Upton Home (for nurses) dedicated

1909

Death of Harriet Giles

Lucy Upton appointed acting president

1910

Lucy Hale Tapley appointed president

Granddaughters Club organized

1917

Bessie Strong Hall dedicated

1918

Home economics department begins

Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Building dedicated

1924

Named changed to Spelman College

Campus Mirror starts

1925

Tapley Hall dedicated

1927

Lucy Tapley retires

Florence Read appointed president

Sisters Chapel dedicated

Grover-Werden fountain dedicated

Spelman College Glee Club organized

First annual Spelman-Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert, December 21, 1927

1928

Morehouse-Spelman Summer School begins

Elementary school and nurse training department discontinued

1929

Agreement of affiliation with Morehouse College and Atlanta University signed April 1

1930

Nursery school opens

High school discontinued

1931

50th anniversary celebration

University Players organized

Trevor Arnett Library dedicated

1932

"A" rating given by Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

Death of Lucy Tapley

1939

Sculpture Building opens

Senior bench first dedicated on Class Day

1942

Spelman Students Association organized

1944

Hosts conference on Current Problems and Programs in the Higher Education of Negro Women

1945

Chadwick Hall acquired from Atlanta University

1947

Joins list of approved institutions of the Association of American Universities

1948

Hosts Atlanta Student-Faculty Conference on Civil Rights

1951

Read Hall dedicated

1953

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Hall dedicated

Florence Read retires

Albert Manley becomes first Black and first male president

1956

75th anniversary celebration

Charles E. Merrill establishes Merrill Foreign Travel-Study Program

1958

Accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

1959

Cooperative agreement with Henry Grady Memorial Hospital for nurse training signed

1960

First student Domestic Exchange Program begins

First students arrested following sit-ins in downtown Atlanta

Spelman students participate in Crossroads Africa Program

Atlanta University Center students draft "An Appeal for Human Rights" that is published in the Atlanta Constitution and other national newspapers on March 9

1961

Non-Western studies program instituted

Florence Read's The Story of Spelman College published

Becomes member of the American Association of University Women

1964

John D. Rockefeller Jr., Fine Arts Building dedicated

Dorothy Shepherd Manley Hall dedicated

1968

Howard-Harreld Hall dedicated

1969

Black Studies program instituted

1970

Opening of Margaret Nabrit Curry Collection on Women in Quarles Library

1971

Health Careers Program established

1973

Death of Florence Read

Albert E. Manley College Center opens

Sarah Sage McAlpin Hall dedicated

1974

Morehouse-James Hall dedicated

Guest House named after Dr. Helen Albro

1976

Albert Manley retires

Donald Stewart elected president

1977

Inauguration of Donald Stewart

1978

Office of Freshman Studies established

1979

Included in Atlanta Women Exhibition, Atlanta Historical Society

Sue Bailey Thurman International Room dedicated

Marian Wright Edelman (class of '60) first alumna elected Chair of the Board of Trustees

1980

Co-sponsors "Southern Women: From Myth to Modern Times" symposium

Spelman College honors programs created

Continuing education program started

1981

Centennial celebration

Women's Research and Resources Center, the first at an HBCU, established

1985

Academic Computer Center opens

1986

Donald and Isabel Stewart Living-Learning Center dedicated

Donald Stewart resigns to accept the presidency of The College Board; Barbara Carter, vice president for Academic Affairs appointed acting president, 1986-1987

1987

Johnnetta Betsch Cole elected as the first Black woman president

Gift of $20 million from Drs. William (Bill) and Camille Cosby announced

1988

Spelman listed as one of the nation's top colleges in U.S. News & World Report

The Spelman College mentorship program is established

1989

The Office of Community Service opens

Spelman's flag goes into space with Mae Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut

International Affairs Center established

1990

Nelson Mandela visits Atlanta University Center as part of his U.S. tour to raise funds for the struggle against apartheid in South Africa

1991

Spelman's Community Service Program is designated White House Point of Light #563

1992

Producers from Bill Cosby's "A Different World" visit campus to speak with students about script ideas for the fall season of the TV show

Spelman announces the receipt of $37 million from the DeWitt Wallace/Readers Digest Fund, the largest gift ever given to a historically Black college

Spelman is named the No. 1 regional liberal arts college in the South by U.S. News & World Report

1993

Spelman receives endowment from the Bonner Foundation for the Bonner Scholars Community Service Program

1994

Giles hall dedicated on its 100th birthday

The Association of Medical Colleges ranks Spelman No. 5 among undergraduate programs for Black students accepted to medical school

Spelman makes the Top Ten list of best college buys in Money Guide magazine's "Best College Buys Now"

Maya Angelou Practice Theater dedicated in the John Rockefeller Jr. Fine Arts Building

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching ranks Spelman as a Baccalaureate I institution

1995

Spelman is one of six institutions designated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a Model Institution for Excellence in undergraduate science and math education

1996

Official opening of the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center and the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art

The successful capital campaign brings Spelman's endowment to $141 million, the largest of any historically black college or university

Dr. Cole announces her resignation as president of Spelman College

1997

Audrey Forbes Manley (class of '55) becomes first alumna elected President of the College

Death of Albert E. Manley

1998

Spelman awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa

Becomes a provisional member of NCAA Division II in basketball, volleyball, cross-country, tennis, and track and field

Spelman ranked No. 2 on the fifth annual list of Top Ten Activist Schools by Mother Jones Magazine

1999

Spelman ranked No. 1 by Black Enterprise as best environment for Black collegians

Two Spelman seniors receive Fulbright Post-Baccalaureate Fellowships for research study abroad

2000

Spelman ranked No. 2 by the Association of Medical Colleges in placing African-American students in medical school

Women of Excellence Leadership Series (WEL) is inaugurated. The program is designed to provide advanced-level leadership and training to Spelman women

2001

Division of Media and Information Technology established

Professor Ayoka Chenzira, internationally noted filmmaker and visual artist, is the first recipient of the William and Camille Cosby Endowed Professorship in the Fine Arts.

Spelman's Independent Scholars Program (SIS) established to conduct extensive interviews with African-American elders in an effort to capture and preserve their stories about life in the past century

Spelman hosts 25th International Association of Philosophy and Literature Conference. The event marked the first time a historically Black college hosted the conference

Spelman signs partnership agreement with the University of Delaware to enrich curricular and cultural offerings in the arts at both institutions

Spelman's Habitat for Humanity Chapter completes its first year of operation. More than 125 students, faculty and staff were actively involved in the chapter's programs and activities

Spelman celebrates 75th anniversary of the Spelman-Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert

2002

Albro Falconer Manley Science Center dedicated

The Lilly Foundation awards Spelman a $2 million grant to establish the Sisters Center for WISDOM, Women in Spiritual Discernment of Ministry

Spelman and all the schools in the Atlanta University Center open the University Community Academy Charter School in historic West End

Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon (C'70), cultural historian and founder of legendary a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock, named 2002 Cosby Professor in the Fine Arts and Dr. Shelia Walker, nationally known anthropologist and scholar named 2002 Cosby Professor in the Humanities

Dr. Audrey Forbes Manley retires, named president emerita

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum appointed ninth president of Spelman College

2003

Spelman establishes Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (LEADS)

Spelman named in the top 100 Best Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News and World Report

Spelman receives $4.5 million NASA grant to enhance its Women in Science and Engineering Scholars Program

Dr. Renita J. Weems, prominent author, Biblical scholar, and ordained minister, named 2003 Cosby Professor in the Humanities and Dr. William J. Darity Jr., distinguished scholar and economist, named 2003 Cosby Professor in the Social Sciences

Spelman named one of six institutions to receive $4.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities to eliminate health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups

2004

Sisters Center for WISDOM (Women in Spiritual Discernment of Ministry) launched

Spelman's Independent Scholars Program (SIS) partners with AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) and The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights on "Voices of Civil Rights," a project designed to collect and preserve firsthand accounts of the Civil Rights Movement

Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement sponsors first national Leadership Symposium & Conference for Women of Color, "It's Our Turn"

Packard Hall renovation wins an Atlanta Urban Design Commission Award of Excellence for 2004

Atlanta University Center Inc. restructured as the Atlanta University Center Consortium.