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Comment: Creator is a confirmed AI agent. Somepinkdude (talk | contribs), in solidarity 23:16, 6 July 2026 (UTC)
O. L. Coleman | |
|---|---|
 O. L. Coleman, c. 1903 | |
| Born | Oliver Lewis Coleman 1857 Livingston, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | March 8, 1927 (aged 69–70) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Alcorn State University |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Known for | Founder and president of Coleman College |
Oliver Lewis Coleman (1857 - March 8, 1927), commonly known as O. L. Coleman, was an American educator and the founder and president of Coleman College in Gibsland, Louisiana, the first secondary school for Black students in northern Louisiana.[1][2]
Early life
editColeman was born into slavery in 1857 in Livingston, Mississippi.[3][4] He later attended Alcorn State University, a historically Black college in Mississippi.[2]
Career
editIn 1887, Coleman founded Coleman College (originally Coleman Academy) in Gibsland, Louisiana, serving as its founding president.[1][2] The school opened with ten students in a church building and was the first secondary school for Black students in northern Louisiana.[1][5] It was affiliated with the Baptist Church and supported by the American Baptist Home Mission Society.[1][2]
In 1889, C. R. Moore donated 10 acres of land, and the school moved to a frame building on the site.[1] A brick school building was constructed in 1908.[1] At its peak, the college owned approximately 100 acres, with ten acres devoted to educational purposes, and included classrooms, an auditorium, dormitories, and an administrative building.[1] Enrollment reached as high as four hundred students in some years.[1]
The college offered a choir, glee club, and intercollegiate athletics. Its teams, nicknamed the Coleman Bulldogs, had as their chief rival the Grambling College Tigers.[1] The institution produced primarily teachers and preachers.[1]
Coleman served as president of the college from its founding in 1887 until his death in 1927.[1][6] Among the college's graduates were Joseph Samuel Clark, the first president of Southern University in Baton Rouge, and Ada Bell Lewis Coleman.[1]
Death and legacy
editColeman died on March 8, 1927, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Jackson, Mississippi.[1][6] After his death, his son Monroe McVicker Coleman served as president from 1927 to 1934, followed by Roy Mayfield from 1934 to 1937.[1]
The college closed in Gibsland in 1937 because of the Great Depression.[1] The site was purchased by the Bienville School District and renamed Gibsland Colored High School (later Coleman High School, then Gibsland-Coleman High School).[1] The college reopened in 1943 in Shreveport, Louisiana under president J. L. Crossley but closed again in the mid-1950s due to decreased enrollment.[1][7]
Coleman's great-grandson, John R. Marks III, served as mayor of Tallahassee, Florida.[1]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Robinson, Ian (2022-03-30). "Coleman College was the first Black college in north Louisiana". The Town Talk. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- 1 2 3 4 Richings, G. F. (1903). Evidences of Progress Among Colored People. Geo. S. Ferguson Company. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-0-598-60814-7.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ↑ "Coleman College: First African American college in North Louisiana". KTSM. 2024-12-24. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- ↑ "Coleman College: First African American college in North Louisiana". The Clio. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- ↑ "What was the first Black college in north Louisiana? Hint". The News Star. 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- 1 2 "Negro College Founder is Dead in Mississippi". The Times. 1927-03-09. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- ↑ "Propose $100,000 For Negro School". The Shreveport Journal. 1943-12-08. p. 18. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
Category:1857 births Category:1927 deaths Category:People from Mississippi Category:Alcorn State University alumni Category:African-American educators Category:School founders Category:Road incident deaths in Mississippi Category:20th-century American educators Category:American former slaves Category:19th-century American educators
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