Normal Theological Institute, State University at Louisville, and later as Simmons Bible College, is a private, historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 1879, it is the nation's 107th HBCU and is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education.
== History ==
=== Beginnings ===
In August 1865, 12 Black Baptist churches met at Fifth Street Baptist Church in Louisville and organized the State Convention of Colored Baptist Churches in Kentucky, led by the pastor Henry Adams.
Because there was no place in the state for Blacks to obtain a college education, members of the Convention soon began discussing the need to create a school for the training of Negroes, many of whom were one generation removed from slavery. Having first given consideration to Frankfort as the home to the school, members of the Convention instead decided in 1869 to locate what would be known as the Kentucky Normal Theological Institute in Louisville.
It was not until 1879, however, that any definite steps …
