The history of Talladega College began on November 20, 1865, when three former slaves William Savery, Thomas Tarrant, and Ambrose Headen of Talladega, met in convention with a group of new freedmen in Mobile, Alabama. From this meeting came the commitment, "We regard the education of our children and youth as vital to the preservation of our liberties, and true religion as the foundation of all real virtue, and shall use our utmost endeavors to promote these blessings in our common country."