Walden University
What was the official name of Walden University (Tennessee) from 1900 to 1922?
Walden University ( Tennessee ) Walden University was an historically black college in Nashville , Tennessee . It was founded in 1865 by missionaries from the Northern United States on behalf of the Methodist Church to serve freedmen . Known as Central Tennessee College from 1865 to 1900 , Walden University provided education and professional training to African Americans until 1925 . Meharry Medical College , established as one of Waldens departments in 1876 , was the first medical school in the South for African Americans . In 1915 , it was chartered separately and became a separate institution . It is one of the constellation of colleges in Nashville . After regrouping as a junior college in 1922 and offering a two-year associate degree , Walden College closed in 1925 due to financial difficulties and competition with state-run colleges . Since 1935 , its second campus ( acquired in 1922 ) has served Trevecca Nazarene University . History . Walden University was founded in Nashville in 1865 by missionaries from the northern Methodist Episcopal Church . They first organized a basic community school for freedmen . Classes attracted both children and adults , as people eagerly embraced the chance for literacy and learning . After the state established a public elementary school in Nashville , in 1867 the Methodists chartered Central Tennessee College for freedmen . The Freedmens Bureau helped finance construction of the first two brick buildings . The directors added higher-level courses , including teacher education , agriculture , science , and theology . The college was part of a first generation of such institutions across the South to educate freedmen and to teach teachers and ministers , fields that were closely aligned as callings . To aid students , it included preparatory classes for those who had not had much prior education . Gaining education was seen as a priority for African Americans , and the vocation of teaching attracted many of the most talented people . Segregation made separate institutions for blacks necessary . In 1876 , the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College was founded as the first medical school in the South for blacks . It was founded and supported financially by Samuel Meharry and his four brothers , Scots-Irish immigrants who became philanthropists . In 1915 the medical department received a separate charter and became Meharry Medical College . It still continues in Nashville . Expansion continued in the 1880s , when the college added departments of law , pharmacy ( also the first in the South for African Americans ) , dentistry and industrial arts . In the 1890s , the college added courses for women , including nursing in 1892 . The college also stressed what were considered industrial and domestic arts , as promoted at Tuskegee Institute . Struggles continued over the appropriate role of the college , a tension reflected in southern education during these years . In 1900 , Central Tennessee College was renamed Walden University in honor of Methodist Bishop John Morgan Walden , who had served freedmen as a missionary after the American Civil War . The university then had thirteen departments and 68 faculty . After the state established Tennessee Agricultural , Industrial , and Normal State School , now Tennessee State University , in Nashville in 1912 , Walden University had more trouble attracting students and struggled to reframe its mission . In addition , in response to lynchings and disfranchisement , many ambitious African Americans left Nashville and other southern areas in the Great Migration to northern cities for work and more freedom . The percentage of black population in the city dropped sharply from 40 percent in 1890 . Due to other demographic influences and economic changes , by the 1970s , only 22 percent of the city was black . In 1922 , Walden University was renamed Walden College and was moved to a campus overlooking the black neighborhood of Trimble Bottom . It served as a junior college , with pre-medical and pre-law programs among its offerings . Continuing financial difficulties forced its closing in 1925 . In 1935 the campus was leased by Trevecca Nazarene University , a private Christian institution affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene , which purchased it in 1937 . Notable alumni . - George Phillip Bowser , known as the father of Christian education among African-American members of the Churches of Christ ; founder ( 1949 ) of Southwestern Christian College in Terrell , Texas , and founder ( 1902 ) of the Christian Echo , a publication targeted to African-American members of the churches of Christ . National evangelist and educator among Churches of Christ . - Mary L . Bell , president and chairperson of Bell Broadcasting Corporation - Herman Chittison , jazz pianist - Maude Roberts George ( 1888-1943 ) , soprano singer , president of National Association of Negro Musicians from 1933 to 1935 - John Henry Hale ( 1878–1944 ) , prominent surgeon - Momulu Massaquoi ( 1870–1938 ) , Liberian politician and diplomat - Samuel A . McElwee ( 1886 ) , lawyer - Noah W . Parden ( law department , 1891 ) , first African American attorney to present an oral argument before the U.S . Supreme Court . - Lucian H . Palmer , first African American member of the Wisconsin Legislature . - Freeman Ransom , lawyer , businessman and civic leader - Marshall W . Taylor ( honorary DD , 1879 ) Kentucky religious leader - George W . Malone ( 1910 ) , New Mexicos first African American licensed to practice law ( See Meharry Medical College for a list of many notable medical alumni , including some from the historical period of affiliation with Walden University. ) References . - Bobby L . Lovett , Walden University ( 1868-1925 ) A Profile of African Americans in Tennessee History , Nashville : Tennessee State University