Private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Ga.
Its history is traced to 1881, when two Boston women began teaching 11 black women, mostly ex-slaves, in an Atlanta church basement. Donations from John D. Rockefeller , beginning in 1884, assured the school's growth; the school is named for Rockefeller's mother-in-law. Spelman offers bachelor's degrees in more than 20 academic fields. It is one of six African American institutions in the Atlanta area that share students, faculty, facilities, and curricula. Spelman's alumnae include attorney and children's rights activist Marian Wright Edelman and author Alice Walker .