Philander Smith Universitie (2021) 11x14, Fiber-Based Gelatin Silver Print

In 1837, the first institution of higher education for African Americans was founded by the Institute for Colored Youth in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. It was followed by two other institutions Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (1854), and Wilberforce University in Ohio (1856). After the American Civil War the Second Morrill Act was enacted in 1890 to support higher education for African Americans.

Philander Smith College was founded in 1877. Philander Smith College was the first college West of the Mississippi River to make education available to freedman. Philander Smith College is a small, privately supported, historically black four-year liberal arts institution in the heart of Little Rock, Arkansas. The James Monroe Cox Administration Building is part of five contributing buildings that make up the Philander Smith College Historic District.