Wilberforce University / Distinguished Wilberforceans
Wilberforce University (Side A)
Wilberforce University, founded at Tawawa Springs in 1856 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, is the first private historically black college or university in America. The inspirations for Wilberforce were an unwavering faith in God, an acknowledgement of the contribution of the British abolitionist and Member of Parliament William Wilberforce, the leadership of AME Bishop Daniel Payne, and the belief in the potential of all women and men to learn and prosper. Wilberforce embraces the love of learning and the use of education as a tool of personal and community empowerment. Wilberforce seeks to cultivate and meet the historic hunger for freedom and liberty of all people. Today, Wilberforce is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and educates diverse students from across the nation and around the world. Wilberforce continues to serve as a beacon for learning and research.
Distinguished Wilberforceans (Side B)
Leontyne Price - Operatic Soprano
William Grant Still - Classical Composer
Bishop Robert Webster - AME Church Leader
Dr. W.E.B. DuBois - Greek and Latin Professor
President H. Kamuzu Banda - Malawi, Central Africa
Dr. William Julius Wilson - Harvard University Sociologist
Educator Dr. Jayme Coleman Williams - AME Church General Officer
Dr. Yvonne Walker Taylor - First Female Wilberforce University President
Bishop Daniel Payne - University Founder and America's First Black College President
U.S. Representative Floyd Flake - U.S. Congressman and Wilberforce University President
Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. - Nation's First Black General and Military Science Professor
Marker is on Bicknell Road 0.1 miles south of U.S. 42, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
