🏛️ Our Regional HBCU Family

Built From Our Own Soil

Three HBCUs. One region. A legacy that produced Supreme Court Justices, presidents of nations, Harlem Renaissance poets, Grammy winners, and champions of justice. All within driving distance of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — and all ready to receive the next generation.

Est. 1837 · Oldest HBCU in America

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

Cheyney, Pennsylvania

Est. 1854 · First Degree-Granting HBCU

Lincoln University

Lincoln University, Pennsylvania

Est. 1891 · First Black Land-Grant University in Delaware

Delaware State University

Dover, Delaware

189

Years of Combined History

Nation & Supreme Court Justices

HBCUs Within 60 Miles

∞

Next Students Ready to Rise

"These institutions were built for our children. Most Black families don't know how to access them. We close that gap starting at age 10."
— 40 Acres Educational Foundation

🏛️ Est. 1837 · Oldest HBCU in America

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

The mother of all HBCUs. Founded in 1837 — before the Civil War, before emancipation — Cheyney was established by Quaker philanthropist Richard Humphreys specifically to educate free Black people. It predates Lincoln University by 17 years and is the oldest institution of higher learning for African Americans in the entire United States. It sits just 12 miles from Yeadon. Our children can walk in the footsteps of giants before they graduate high school.

🏛️ Cheyney

Ed Bradley

Class of 1964

Legendary CBS News journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent for 26 years. A Philadelphia native who walked into Cheyney and walked out as one of the most respected journalists in American television history. Winner of 19 Emmy Awards.

🎙️ Pillar 8: Media Literacy

🏛️ Cheyney

Octavius Catto

Class of 1858

Civil Rights activist, educator, and organizer who fought for Black voting rights in Philadelphia — and was assassinated for it on Election Day, 1871. His statue stands outside Philadelphia City Hall today as a permanent reminder. A Philadelphia hero.

✊ Pillar 4: Power Literacy

🏛️ Cheyney

Julian Abele

Philadelphia, PA · Cheyney Alum · 1881–1950

The first prominent African American architect in United States history. Abele designed Duke University's entire West Campus (39 buildings including Duke Chapel), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Widener Memorial Library at Harvard — some of the most iconic buildings in America — in an era when Black men weren't even allowed inside many of them. He built America. America never said his name.

🏗️ Pillar 5: Entrepreneurship

🏛️ Cheyney

Dr. Rebecca J. Cole

Philadelphia, PA · Cheyney Alum · 1846–1922

The second African American woman in United States history to earn a medical degree, graduating in 1867. She spent 50 years providing medical care to the poor in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and the South — at a time when both Black people and women were locked out of medicine entirely. She founded the Women's Directory Center in 1873 to give poor women and children access to legal and medical help, going directly into their homes when they couldn't come to her. No photographs of her survived. The historical record of her image is lost — which is itself part of the erasure. She refused to wait for permission.

🌿 Pillar 7: Health & Wellness

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. No one can take education from you."

— Frederick Douglass

🏛️ Est. 1854 · First Degree-Granting HBCU

Lincoln University

The school that changed the world — twice. Lincoln University, just 45 miles from Yeadon, became the first institution in the United States to grant college degrees to Black students in 1854. But Lincoln didn't just educate American minds — it educated the men who built entire nations. Two of Lincoln's graduates became presidents of African countries. One became the first Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Another became the voice of the Harlem Renaissance. This is where our children belong.

🏛️ Lincoln

Thurgood Marshall

Class of 1930

The first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Before that, he won Brown v. Board of Education — the landmark 1954 case that legally ended school segregation. He started at Lincoln. He changed the law of the land.

⚖️ Pillar 4: Power Literacy

🏛️ Lincoln

Langston Hughes

Class of 1929

The Poet Laureate of the Harlem Renaissance. One of the most celebrated voices in American literary history. His poems, plays, and novels gave a generation of Black Americans language for their pain, their beauty, and their power.

✍️ Pillar 1: Identity & Self-Knowledge

🏛️ Lincoln

Kwame Nkrumah

Class of 1939

First President and Prime Minister of Ghana. A Pan-African revolutionary who led his country to independence from British colonization in 1957. He attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania — and returned home to free a nation.

🌍 Pillar 9: Community Power

🏛️ Lincoln

Gil Scott-Heron

Late 1960s

The Godfather of Hip-Hop. Poet, novelist, and musician whose spoken word recordings predated and inspired rap music. His most famous work, 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,' is one of the defining artistic statements of Black consciousness in American history.

🎵 Pillar 2: Black History

🏛️ Lincoln

Rear Admiral Lillian Fishburne

Patuxent River, MD · Class of 1971

The first African American woman to achieve the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, promoted by President Bill Clinton on February 1, 1998. She broke two ceilings at once — race and gender — in one of America's most traditional institutions. She served for 28 years, commanding naval stations from Japan to Hawaii, and retired in 2001 with the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. She didn't ask for access. She commanded it.

🏆 Pillar 6: Leadership

🏛️ Lincoln

Nnamdi Azikiwe

Zungeru, Nigeria · Class of 1930

The first President of Nigeria — the most populous Black nation on earth. He came to Lincoln University from West Africa, studied political science, and returned home to lead a nation of over 30 million people to independence in 1960. A journalist, Pan-Africanist, and revolutionary statesman, Azikiwe proved that a Lincoln education could change the fate of an entire continent. "I came to America to learn. I went home to liberate."

🌍 Pillar 9: Community Power

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots."

— Marcus Garvey

🏛️ Est. 1891 · First Black Land-Grant University in Delaware

Delaware State University

Excellence in every field — literally. Delaware State University was founded in 1891 as the Delaware College for Colored Students. Today it is a thriving research university that has produced Grammy-winning recording artists, NFL All-Pros, U.S. Ambassadors, and jazz legends. Whatever your child is called to be — Delaware State University helped someone like them get there first.

🏛️ Delaware

SZA (Solána Rowe)

Attended DSU

Grammy Award-winning R&B and soul artist. One of the most critically acclaimed musicians of her generation. Her albums CTRL and SOS have gone multi-platinum. She studied marine biology at Delaware State before following her calling.

🎵 Pillar 1: Identity & Self-Knowledge

🏛️ Delaware

Clifford Brown

Wilmington, DE · 1930–1956

Regarded as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters who ever lived. In just 25 years of life, Brownie permanently changed the trajectory of jazz music — developing a warm, lyrical tone and technical brilliance that no one had heard before. His influence on Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, and every trumpet player that followed is incalculable. He proved what Black genius could do when given a stage. "He only had 25 years. That was enough to change everything."

🎵 Pillar 2: Black History

🏛️ Delaware

Nnamdi Asomugha

University of California, Berkeley · Class of 2003

One of the best cornerbacks to ever play the game — a three-time Pro Bowl selection and one of the most dominant defensive players of his era. Wide receivers literally refused to throw his way. After the NFL, he became an actor and producer — starring in Beasts of No Nation and producing Crown Heights. He proved that an athlete's greatest play can come after the final whistle. "The field was just the beginning."

🏆 Pillar 5: Build Something

🏛️ Delaware

Jamaal Jackson

Delaware State · 9 NFL Seasons

Starting center for the Philadelphia Eagles for nine seasons — a cornerstone of one of the most beloved franchises in Philadelphia sports history. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Jackson went from Delaware State to the NFL, proving that HBCUs produce players who anchor championship-caliber rosters. A leader in the trenches — the kind of man who does the work nobody sees so everyone else can shine. "Roots in Philly. Built at Delaware State. Proved it on Sunday."

🦅 Pillar 6: Leadership

The Forty Acres Educational Foundation honors the legacy of HBCUs by teaching our students that Black education is not a side story in America—it is one of the strongest proof points of what our people can build when given the chance to learn, lead, and serve.

🌱 The Next Chapter Starts Now

Your Child's Name Belongs on This List

Cheyney. Lincoln. Delaware State. Three HBCU institutions — all within 60 miles of Philadelphia. All waiting for the next generation. The 40 Acres Summer School is the bridge. We prepare Black and Brown youth — starting at age 10 — to walk through those doors fully prepared, fully funded, and fully free.

Enroll in Summer School Partner With the Foundation