LeMoyne-Owen College history

First known as Lincoln Chapel, the school relocated into Memphis proper in 1863 from south of the city.

In 1866 it was destroyed during white race riots that broke out following the withdrawal of federal troops.

The school was rebuilt, and in 1867 it reopened with 150 students and six teachers.

In 1871, the school opened in a new building at 284 Orleans Street and was named LeMoyne Normal and Commercial School.

The Memphis yellow fever epidemic started in 1873 and took a toll on many school personnel.

In 1914 the school moved from Orleans Street to its present site on Walker Avenue.

LeMoyne became a junior college in 1924.

After developing a four-year curriculum, it became a four-year college in 1930.

Owen College was established as a junior college in 1947, when the Tennessee Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention bought property for that purpose on Vance Avenue.

After they developed the facility, S. A. Owen Junior College opened at that location in 1954.

In March 1957, Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. paid his first visit to Memphis and to our campus.

In 1958, Owen College secured accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and offered two year associate degrees in general education, business, home economics and religious education.

Owen students also became involved in Memphis’ civil rights movement; in 1960, a group of students launched sit-ins to desegregate public facilities in the city, including the library.

In 1963 the college built Hollis F. Price Library, designed in the Modernist style by the firm of Gassner-Nathan-Browne and named for its first African-American president.

In August 2007, the City of Memphis ensured the college would open for the fall 2007 semester by pledging $3 million in taxpayer funds to be added to other substantial pledges from the United Negro College Fund, Cummins, radio host Tom Joyner and the United Church of Christ.

In August 2007, the City of Memphis ensured the college would open for the fall 2007 semester by pledging $3 million in taxpayer funds to be added to other substantial pledges from the United Negro College Fund, Cummins, radio host Tom Joyner and the United Church of Christ. It had increased its endowment to 20 million dollars in 2014.

In July 2020, LeMoyne-Ownen College received the largest donation in its history.