Lane College

Lane College was founded in 1882 by the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (C.M.E.; now known as Christian Methodist Episcopal Church) as the C.M.E. High School. It was named after Methodist Bishop Isaac Lane, who co-founded the school. Planning for the school had begun in 1878, but the establishment was delayed by a yellow fever epidemic in the region in 1878. Its primary purpose was the education of newly freed enslaved persons, and the original curriculum focused on the preparation of "teachers and preachers." It became Lane Institute in 1883.

In 1887, Rev. T. F. Saunders, a White former enslaver, and a member of the Memphis Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was appointed the first president of Lane Institute. In 1896 the college department was formed, and the Board of Trustees voted to change the name to Lane College. Around 1902, many letters were written calling for a Black president for Lane College to the Christian Index, a magazine published by the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1903, James Albert Bray, a Black graduate of Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) was elected president of Lane College, after T. F. Saunders resignation.

• T. F. Saunders, 1887-1903
• James Albert Bray, 1903-1907
• James Franklin Lane, 1907-1944
• Peter Randolph Shy (interim) 1944-1945
• D.S. Yarbrough, 1945-1948
• James H. White, 1948-1950
• Richard H. Sewell (interim) 1950
• Chester Arthur Kirkendoll, 1950-1970
• Herman Stone Jr., 1970-1986
• Alex A. Chambers, 1986-1992
• Arthur L. David (interim) 1992
• Wesley Cornelious McClure, 1992-2013
• Logan C. Hampton, 2014-2024
• Donald W. Comer (interim), 2024-present

Lane College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate's and bachelor's degrees.

The Lane College Department of Athletics sponsors men's intercollegiate baseball, basketball, football, cross country, and tennis, along with women's intercollegiate softball, basketball, cross country, volleyball, and tennis. The school's athletic teams are nicknamed the Dragons and compete in Division II of the NCAA. The athletic teams compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Former Lane football player Jacoby Jones became the first player in history to score a receiving touchdown and a return touchdown in a Super Bowl as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.

SS Lane Victory, a World War II Victory ship, one of the few surviving, was named for Lane College. It is now docked in San Pedro, California (which is part of the commercial harbor area of Los Angeles to the south of downtown). It is now open as a museum.