Clark College - BN

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Clark College was founded in 1869 by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church as Clark University. The University was named after Bishop David W. Clark, the first president of the Freedmen's Aid Society. The Freedmen's Aid Society is the popular name for the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, which was established by Congress during Reconstruction period after the Civil War. The Bureau aimed to provide practical aid to the 4,000,000 newly freed African Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom.During the 1930s Clark College joined the Atlanta University Complex (made up of the campuses of Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Atlanta University which are all in close proximity) for purposes economic efficiency. On July 1, 1988 Clark College (a four year undergraduate institution oriented towards liberal arts) and Atlanta University (which only granted graduate degrees) merged to form Clark Atlanta University.