Spelman College Official Colors: A Legacy of Blue and Light Blue
Spelman College, a distinguished private, historically Black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, holds a unique place in the landscape of American higher education. As a founding member of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium, Spelman has been empowering women of African descent since its establishment. Understanding the college's official colors provides insight into its identity and heritage.
The Historical Roots of Spelman College
The Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary was established on 11 April 1881 in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta by two teachers from the Oread Institute of Worcester, Massachusetts: Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard. In 1882 the two women returned to Massachusetts to bid for more money and were introduced to businessman John D. Rockefeller who was an industrialist and a Northern Baptist at a church conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Rockefeller was impressed by Packard's vision. In April 1884, Rockefeller visited the school. At the time the seminary had 600 students and 16 faculty members. Rockefeller was so impressed that he settled the debt on the property. His wife, Laura Spelman Rockefeller; her sister, Lucy Spelman; and their parents, Harvey Buel and Lucy Henry Spelman also supported the school. The Spelmans were longtime activists in the abolitionist movement. In 1884 the name of the school was changed to the Spelman Seminary in honor of Laura Spelman Rockefeller and her parents.
Packard was appointed Spelman's first president in 1888, after the charter for the seminary was granted. She died in 1891, and Giles was the president until her own death in 1909. From 1910 to 1953 the seminary had a substantial amount of growth and transition. After Giles' death, Lucy Hale Tapley became president. In September 1924, Spelman Baptist Seminary officially became Spelman College.
Florence Matilda Read became the president in 1927. Soon afterwards, Spelman entered into an "agreement of affiliation" with nearby Morehouse College and Atlanta University by chartering the Atlanta University Center in 1929. Atlanta University would provide graduate education for students; Morehouse and Spelman were responsible for undergraduate education. In 1927, one of the most important buildings on campus, Sisters Chapel, was dedicated. The chapel was named for its primary benefactors, sisters Laura Spelman Rockefeller and Lucy Maria Spelman. The Spelman College Glee Club was founded in 1925, beginning the popular Atlanta tradition of the annual Spelman-Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert. The Atlanta University Summer Theater was staged by the University Players, a drama organization for AUC students. In 1930 the Spelman Nursery School was created as a training center for mothers and a practice arena for students who planned careers in education and child development. Spelman celebrated its 50th anniversary in April 1931.
The school continued to expand, building and acquiring more property to accommodate the growing student body. In 1947, Spelman joined the list of "approved institutions" of the Association of American Universities. In 1953, Florence Read retired, and Albert E. Manley became the first Black and first male president of the college. Under his presidency and the presidency of his successor, Donald Stewart, Spelman experienced significant growth. Going into the 1960s, the Spelman College students became involved in civil rights actions in Atlanta. In 1962, the first Spelman students were arrested for participating in sit-ins in the Atlanta community. Noted American historian Howard Zinn was a professor of history at Spelman during this era, and served as an adviser to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee chapter at the college.
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Stewart retired in 1986, and the following year, Johnnetta Betsch Cole became the first Black female president of Spelman College. During this time, the college became noted for its commitment to community service and its ties to the local community. In 1997, Cole stepped down and Audrey Forbes Manley became Spelman's first alumna president. In 2015, Spelman opened the Wellness Center at Reed Hall, a state-of-the-art recreation center. In April 2022, Helene Gayle was named the 11th president of Spelman College. In January 2024, Spelman received the largest single donation in its history and one of the largest ever to a HBCU with $100 million given by Spelman trustee Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston.
The Official Colors: Blue and Light Blue
The Spelman College Jaguars team colors are Blue and Light Blue. These colors are deeply embedded in the college's visual identity, representing its values and aspirations. The Spelman College Jaguars NCAA team Pantone color is PMS 7687 C for Blue and PMS 298 C for Light Blue.
Color Codes
Here are the specific color codes for Spelman College's official colors:
- Blue:
- Pantone: PMS 7687 C
- Hex Color: #114488
- RGB: (17, 68, 136)
- CMYK: (100, 84, 17, 4)
- Light Blue:
- Pantone: PMS 298 C
- Hex Color: #55bbee
- RGB: (85, 187, 238)
- CMYK: (58, 9, 0, 0)
These codes are essential for maintaining consistency in branding and visual representation across various platforms, from digital media to print materials.
Visual Identity and Branding
Spelman College places a high emphasis on its visual identity. To represent the College, you should use only logos provided by the Spelman College Division of Strategic Communications and Marketing. The institution's commitment to branding excellence is vital. The College’s licensing is managed by Collegiate Licensing Company.
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Recently, Spelman College introduced a refreshed brand expression and visual identity. The primary institutional Spelman College logo has been updated to a single-color design, with refined letter spacing and a more balanced relationship between the wordmark and Sisters Chapel graphic. The Digital Content Hub provides resources to the campus community and external organizations desiring to use the college's visual identity.
Academic and Extracurricular Activities
Spelman College offers bachelor's degrees in over 30 academic majors. Students are all women and predominantly African-American. Approximately 30% come from Georgia, 69% from the rest of the United States, and 1% are international. Spelman offers organized and informal activities. All new Spelman students are required to attend a six-day new student orientation (NSO) in August immediately before the fall semester begins. NSO includes events, workshops, and sessions designed to teach new Spelmanites about the mission, history, culture, traditions, and sisterhood of Spelman College; students are also given information on how to successfully matriculate to Spelman Women (graduates), such as registration, advisement, placement, and planning class schedules. NSO is led by student orientation leaders known as PALs (Peer Assistant Leaders) and Spelman alumnae.
One of Spelman's oldest traditions are Spelmanites wearing "respectable and conservative" white attire to designated formal events on campus. The tradition began in the early 1900s when it was customary for women to wear white dresses when attending formal events. NAACP and Sister Steps are registered campus organizations. Spelman also has chapters of Colleges Against Cancer, Circle K, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Habitat for Humanity, National Council of Negro Women, National Society of Black Engineers, Operation Smile, United Way, and Young Democrats of America. Spelman's 2005 robotics team, the SpelBots, became the first all women, all black robotics team to compete in the RoboCup Four-Legged League Soccer competition. Spelman has several sororities on campus including all four of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
A Legacy of Leadership and Achievement
Spelman College represents academic excellence, leadership, service and achievement. Its outstanding reputation is one of its most valuable assets.
Spelman's notable alumnae include the first African-American CEO of Sam's Club and Walgreens Rosalind Brewer, Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker, former Dean of Harvard College Evelynn M. Hammonds, activist and Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, civil rights and criminal defense lawyer Dovey Johnson Roundtree, college organist Joyce Johnson, musician, activist and historian Bernice Johnson Reagon, politician Stacey Abrams, writer Pearl Cleage, TV personality Rolonda Watts, opera singer Mattiwilda Dobbs, and actresses Cassi Davis, LaTanya Richardson, Adrienne-Joi Johnson, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Tati Gabrielle, Assemblywoman of the 18th district of New York State Taylor Darling, designor and curator Sara Penn, Lisa D..
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