Horace Bumstead records

Horace Bumstead was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 29 September 1841. He attended Yale University along with Edmund Ware, and after a brief stint in the United States Army during the Civil War, he joined the faculty of Atlanta University in 1875 as an instructor in Natural Science. Bumstead went on to become Professor of Latin; Acting President, 1886-1887; and President from 1888 to 1907. Named the "Apostle of Higher Education of the Negro" by W.E.B. DuBois, Bumstead advocated restructuring Atlanta University to include kindergarten, grade school, college prep, and college in order to better prepare it's students. Due to losses in appropriations from the State of Georgia, much of Bumstead's efforts centered around raising funds for the school. Several additions to the campus were built during his administration, including Furber College, and Graves Library. Horace Bumstead retired from Atlanta University in 1907 and died on 6 October 1919.

Seventy-two days following the end of the Civil War, the American Missionary Association (A.M.A.) began formal educational work for African Americans in Atlanta. Edmund Asa Ware, the Educational Director of the A.M.A. in Georgia, promoted the idea of establishing a university to provide educational opportunity for the recently freed slaves and refugees of the war. Altanta University opened on 13 October 1869.

The University offered training for students of all ages including kindergarten, grade school, normal industrial, academy and college. In 1894, all pre-high school level work ceased, and during the first two decades of the twentieth century, the University phased out its high school courses. In 1929, Atlanta University affiliated with Morehouse and Spelman in a cooperative plan known as the Atlanta University System. Among the features of this system was a division of labor between the schools to eliminate unnecessary duplication of educational efforts. Under this plan, the University discontinued all undergraduate work and devoted its resources to graduate and professional education, while Morehouse and Spelman operated on a college level.

The Atlanta University Schools of Social Work, Library and Information Studies, Arts and Sciences, Education, Business Administration, and Library Services were all established between 1920 and 1946. On 1 July 1988, Atlanta University and Clark College consolidated to form Clark Atlanta University.