About: Tougaloo College
Tougaloo College
"Where tall the Tougaloo Oak towers,
And where the moss hangs grey,
Where roses bloom in bowers,
There steals my heart today.
Dear Tougaloo,
Thou thrillest my loyal heart anew
Heard of hope and courage
All hail dear, Tougaloo!"
Tougaloo College is a special place founded in 1869. It is a distinguished, private, historically black, co-educational, liberal arts institution located in the beautifully wooded area just north of Jackson. Known nationally as the “Cradle of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi,” Tougaloo has had the privilege of hosting on its campus such giants as Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and Fannie Lou Hamer.
The college has a rich history of educating professionals. Over 40 percent of physicians and dentists in Mississippi are Tougaloo alums, as are 35 percent of the attorneys, teachers, principals, and school superintendents. Some of its noted graduates include physicians Aaron Shirley and Robert Smith; attorneys Rueben V. Anderson, Edward Blackmond, Jr., Constance Slaughter-Harvey, and Judge Denise Sweet Owens; U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson; civil rights activists and authors Ann Moody, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, Dorie Ladner, and Dr. Joyce Ladner (First Female President of Howard University); and Walter Turnbull, founder of the Harlem Boys Choir.
Most recent notable alumni include attorneys John “Trey” Baker, III, Shirlethia Franklin, and Derrick Johnson (National President of the NAACP); United States Coast Guard Admiral Dr. Zeita Merchant; astrophysicist Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi; and Academy Award and Oscar Winner, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, along with countless other alumni who continue the storied legacy of our Eagle Queen.
To learn more about Tougaloo College visit www.tougaloo.edu.
