Founded less than two years after the end of the Civil War, it is one of the oldest HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) in the United States.

The school's roots go back to a Union Army soldier who remained in Marion after the end of the Civil War to teach newly freed African Americans.

His efforts proved successful and in 1867 the school was incorporated with the support of African Americans from the surrounding Perry County.

Under their guidance, the black and white community of Marion raised five hundred dollars to buy land for the school's campus.

[4] On July 26, 1878, William Burns Paterson left Tullibody Academy to accept the Presidency of the State Normal School and University for Colored Students and Teachers in Marion, Alabama.