r-salve to obtain an education. Fisk University for example, only admitted those who were the children of a female slave and a white male, normally a slave master. Many schools during this time period adapted this same entrance criterion. A southern school, Lincoln Normal School, did not have any bias principles rooted in their entrance process. Peyton Finley founded Lincoln Normal School, present-day Alabama State University in 1867, in Marion, Alabama. Peyton Finley is also noted for being the first African American appointed to the Alabama State Board of Education. Finley’s involvement with the board of education allowed him to get the American Missionary Association and the Freemen’s Bureau to provide books, supplies, teachers, and finances for the new school. However, in 1864, the American Missionary Association went bankrupt, and could no longer support Lincoln Normal School. Therefore, the African American community in Marion, Alabama supported the financial needs of the school. In 1874, Lincoln Normal School became the first state supported institution in Alabama. Prior to this significant event in the school’s history, George N. Card became the first president of the institution in 1873.George N. Card is mostly noted for serving as president when the Lincoln Normal School became the nation’s first state supported Liberal Arts College for African American. Card also established Alabama State College Laboratory High School, in Marion, Alabama in 1874. During Card’s tenure as president, the Klu Klux Klan in Marion, Alabama endangered the lives of the African Americans attending the institution. In 1878, to the delight of many African Americans in Marion, Alabama, William Burns Paterson became the new president. William Paterson was born in Tullibody, Scotland. The African American community was happy that Paterson was the new president because he was a very aggressive and stern man. They knew that he...
