Published February 20, 2024
Last Updated February 21, 2024
“Which American university has the best art collection? Harvard? Yale? UCLA?” The question was posed in an October 2023 Forbes magazine article by Chadd Smith. The answer: “. . .That distinction goes to Spelman College, a historically black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta. The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art was founded in 1996 with a mission to uplift art by and about women of the African diaspora. It’s the only museum in the nation dedicated to the niche.”
Spelman College is part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC), the world’s oldest and largest consortium of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The four member institutions are Spelman, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Morehouse School of Medicine.
Just a few of many illustrious alumni from the AUC institutions include the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (Morehouse), film director Spike Lee (Morehouse); director and film producer Kenny Leon (Clark Atlanta); Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman (Spelman); and pediatric otolaryngologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Clarice Brown (Morehouse School of Medicine).
All of AUC’s members, except Morehouse School of Medicine, date to the 19th century. Morehouse School of Medicine dates to the 20th century.
AUC and the Civil Rights Movement
Lonnie King (Morehouse College ) launched the Atlanta Student Movement along with with Morehouse students Joseph Pierce, Julian Bond and others. King and other AUC…
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