This state college was established in 1891 as the Georgia Industrial College for Colored Youths as an outgrowth of the Second Morrill Act of 1890 and an Act of the Georgia General Assembly, November 26, 1890, creating this institution as one of the original Negro land-grant colleges.
The initial session was held at the Baxter Street School in Athens from June to August, 1891. In October of the same year, the school sessions began on the present site. Its initial educational program was agricultural, mechanical and literary, and by 1898, the college was able to award it first degree.
It was the first public institution of higher learning to be established for Negroes in the state and now is a part of the University System of Georgia.
The first president (1891-1921) of the college was Major R. R. Wright who, when just a lad, was asked by General O. O. Howard of the Freedman's Bureau what message should he take back to the people of the North. Young Wright's famous answer was, "Just tell them, we are rising." His answer inspired the poet, John Greenleaf Whittier to write the poem, "The Little Black Boy of Atlanta."
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