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Private, historically Black women's college in Atlanta, Georgia, US

Spelman College is a private, historically Black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a founding member of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium. Giles and Packard had met while Giles was a student, and Packard the preceptress, of the New Salem Academy in New Salem, Massachusetts, and fostered a lifelong friendship there. The two of them traveled to Atlanta specifically to found a school for Black freedwomen, and found support from Frank Quarles, the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church. Giles and Packard began the school with 11 African American women and $100 given to them by the First Baptist Church in Medford, Massachusetts,

In 1882 the two women returned to Massachusetts to bid for more money and were introduced to wealthy Northern Baptist businessman John D. Rockefeller at a church conference in Ohio. Upon Giles' death, Lucy Hale Tapley became president. Although the college was a stride in and of itself, at the time, neither the founders nor the current administration had interest in challenging the status quo of young women as primarily responsible for the family and the home. Atlanta University was to provide graduate education for students, whereas Morehouse and Spelman were responsible for the undergraduate education. At a time during which Black students were often denied access to graduate studies at predominantly white southern research universities, access to Atlanta University allowed the undergraduate students at Morehouse and Spelman immediate access to graduate training. 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 college had also begun to see an improvement in extracurricular investment in the arts, with the organization of the Spelman College Glee Club in 1925, inauguration of the much loved Atlanta tradition of the annual Spelman Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert and smaller events such as the spring orchestra and chorus concert, the Atlanta University Summer Theater, and the University Players, a drama organization for AUC students. The school also began to see more of a focus on collegiate education, as it discontinued its elementary and high school divisions. 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. This milestone was accompanied by the construction of a university library that was shared amongst the Atlanta University Center institutions, and the center continues to share a library to this day. 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 saw significant growth. The college established its study abroad program, the Merrill Foreign Travel Study Program. Zinn was dismissed from the college in 1963 for supporting Spelman students in their efforts to fight segregation; at the time, Spelman was focused on turning out "refined young ladies." Edelman herself writes that Spelman had a reputation as "a tea pouring, very strict school designed to turn Black girls into refined ladies and teachers."

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. Cole also led the college's most successful capital campaign; between 1986 and 1996, the college raised $113.8 million, including a $20 million gift from Bill Cosby and his wife, Camille Hanks Cosby, whose daughter graduated from Spelman. In July 2015, the remainder of the funds were returned and an endowed professorship named for the Cosby couple discontinued as allegations of sexual assault by Bill Cosby grew more prominent. In 1997, Cole stepped down and Audrey Forbes Manley became Spelman's first alumna president. After her retirement, in 2002, Beverly Daniel Tatum, the college's president until 2015, took the post. The campus now comprises 26 buildings on in Atlanta. The following year, Oprah Winfrey served as the keynote commencement speaker. Also in 2015, Mary Schmidt Campbell was named the tenth president of Spelman College. In 2017, Spelman's leadership voted to allow transgender women to enroll in the institution. In 2018, Spelman received $30 million from Spelman trustee Ronda Stryker for the construction of a new state of the art building on campus. Two years later, the college received another significant donation: $40 million from philanthropists Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin to be used as scholarship funds for students enrolled at Spelman. In July 2020, Spelman received a notably large undisclosed donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. 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 the largest ever to a HBCU with $100 million given by Spelman trustee Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston. Spelman stated that $75 million of the $100 million donation will go towards endowed scholarships for future students, and the remaining $25 million will be used to "develop an academic focus on public policy and democracy, improve student housing and provide flexible funding to meet critical strategic needs."

Registered academic honor societies include Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Epsilon Delta, Alpha Lambda Delta, Alpha Sigma Lambda, Beta Kappa Chi, Golden Key International Honour Society, Kappa Delta Epsilon, Mortar Board Senior Honor Society, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Pi Sigma Alpha, Psi Chi, Sigma Tau Delta, and the Upsilon Pi Epsilon.

Students are all women and predominantly African American.

Spelman offers organized and informal activities. Spelman's over 80 student organizations include community service organizations, special interest groups, honors societies, Morehouse cheerleaders, choral groups, music ensembles, dance groups, drama/theater groups, marching band, intramural sports, and student government. Spelman's gated campus near Downtown Atlanta consists of over 25 buildings on 39 acres.

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. During NSO, new students are required to remain on campus at all times; any leave must be approved by PALs.

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. White attire is worn to the annual NSO induction ceremony, Founders Day Convocation, Alumnae March, and graduating seniors wear white attire underneath their graduation gowns for Class Day and Commencement. In 2009, My Sister's Closet was established on campus by the Student Government Association for alumnae and current students to donate gently worn or brand new white attire for Spelman students in need at no cost.

Spelman offers a literary magazine (Aunt Chloe: A Journal of Candor), a student newspaper, The BluePrint, and student government association newsletter (Jaguar Print). Spelman has several sororities on campus including all four of the National Pan Hellenic Council. About three percent of students are active in Spelman's Greek system.

Spelman College has 11 residence halls on campus with approximately 1,500 students occupying them. Each one has unique features and identities. There are three first year students only residence halls, an honors residence hall (mixed with first year students and upperclasswomen), and seven upperclasswomen only residence halls. All first year students and sophomores are required to live on campus and it is traditional for first year students to engage in friendly residence hall competitions (i. e. stroll offs, chant offs, pranks, fundraising, etc.) throughout the school year.

Spelman athletic teams were the Jaguars. The college was a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) from 2003–04 to 2012–13. Spelmen competed in seven intercollegiate varsity sports: Women's sports included basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. In 2013, Spelman College decided to drop varsity athletics and leave the NCAA. Using money originally budgeted to the sports programs, they created wellness programs available for all students.

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. Cook, member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Pamela Gunter Smith, the first African American president of York College of Pennsylvania.