Livingstone College and Hood Theological Seminary were originally founded as Zion Wesley Institute by a group of A.M.E. Zion ministers for the purpose of training ministers in the Cabarrus County town of Concord, North Carolina in 1879. After three brief sessions, directed by principals Bishop C.R. Harris and Professor A.S. Richardson, the Institute ultimately closed in Concord. In 1881, Dr. Joseph Charles Price, Lincoln University, PA class of 1879, and Bishop J.W. Hood changed their roles as delegates to the Ecumenical Conference and became fund-raisers with the mission to re-establish Zion Wesley Institute. The Rowan County town of Salisbury, just 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Concord, gave the Trustees a generous donation of $1,000 and an invitation to relocate the school to Salisbury. They accepted both gifts, and the college re-opened in Salisbury in 1882 with Dr. Price as President. The new site was J.M. Gray’s farm called Delta Grove, which consisted of one building and 40 acres (160,000 m2) of land. In 1887, by an act of the legislature, the name Zion Wesley Institute was changed to Livingstone College in honor of David Livingstone, the great Christian missionary, philanthropist, and explorer. Since its inception, the College has had two principals and seventeen presidents, including six interim presidents. Among its possessions, the institution owns 272 acres (1.10 km2) of land and the physical plant that currently consists of twenty-one brick buildings, seven of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. |