Bowie State University

The Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People was organized in 1864 by 46 men, comprised of businessmen, lawyers, clergymen and Quakers, committed to opening schools to educate the state’s newly emancipated citizens. One of those men was Joseph M. Cushing, an outspoken champion for the education of the black population. As chairman of the Educational Committee for Maryland’s Constitutional Convention in 1864, Cushing chastised the committee’s refusal to fund schools for black people: “There will come a time when this state will be forced by public opinion to provide means for educating our colored population.” The association opened its first Baltimore school, School #1, on January 9, 1865 in the African Baptist Church in Crane’s Building on the corner of Calvert and Saratoga streets. The school offered courses in the elements of education. Courses to train teachers were added in 1866. The facility was woefully inadequate. In 1867, with the aid of the Freedmen’s Bureau, the Quakers of England and others, the Baltimore Association purchased and renovated the Old Friends Meeting House at the corner of Saratoga and Courtland streets to house the Baltimore Normal School for Colored Bowie State University ranks among the nation’s top comprehensive universities, cultivating next-generation leaders by providing opportunities for students to discover their strengths through focused academic experiences and opportunities to tackle real-world problems. Now more than ever, Bowie State University is committed to preparing students for success in a highly technological, global society.