This Day in History: , First African-American College Is Chartered.br April 29, 1854.br Ashmun Institute was br established in southern br Chester County, Pennsylvania.br Created by an act of the br Pennsylvania legislature, the br institution was named after Jehudi Ashman.br Ashman was the U.S. agent br who assisted in the preservation br of an African-American colony in br Africa that later became Liberia.br The institution named after br him was initially chartered to br provide theological, scientific and br classical training to African-Americans.br Under its first college br president, John Pym Carter, br Ashmun Institute opened on January 1, 1857.br It was renamed Lincoln University br in 1866 after the end of the U.S.