Lincoln University (Pa.). African Center Program

Ashmun Institute was founded in 1854 by John Miller Dickey, a Presbyterian minister, with the purpose of preparing freedmen to christianize Africa; named after Jehudi Ashmun, the first governor of Liberia, it was the first college established in the U.S. to have as its original purpose the higher education of youth of African descent; interracial and international; renamed Lincoln University in 1866, becoming the first educational institution named for the assassinated president. African Center Program was established to assist with recruiting African students for Lincoln University, assisting in securing scholarships and other educational funding for the students in the United States for African continental affairs, and acting as an advocate, especially during the independence movement among African nations.