Lincoln University of Pennsylvania


Lincoln University photo collage

A collage of images about the Lincoln University of PA basketball team, 1910s.

Location: Chester, Pennsylvania
Nickname:
“The Orange and Blue”
Colors:
Navy, Burnt Orange

Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, originally founded in 1854 to educate African American missionaries for service in Liberia, is the country’s oldest historically black college.

Although Lincoln began playing basketball in 1910, none of its teams reached national prominence until the mid-1910s when two star athletes, brothers Ulysses “Lyss” Young and William “Pimp” Young, enrolled in the university.

The official logo of the Lincoln University's first varsity basketball team

The official logo of Lincoln University’s first varsity basketball team.

The Youngs had considerable basketball experience playing for their hometown Orange (New Jersey) Imperials, an all-black squad that regularly battled the powerhouse New York area black fives, and had beaten such teams as the mighty St. Christopher Club of Harlem.

The Young brothers continued to play for the Orange “Imps” while enrolled at Lincoln, where they earned varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball.

Lincoln was consistently among the top African American basketball teams in the country during the 1910s.