ACNY was founded at
Knoxville College in 1913. In 1916 the fourth annual meeting was held at Knoxville College.
Edwin Chalmers Silsby was the group's president. Physical education, measures to control drinking smoking, and card playing, and religious education were among the subjects addressed. Compulsory attendance at special religious events was supported. Textbook recommendations were made and a committee on membership and accreditation established. The eighth annual meeting in 1921 was held at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. In February 1926 it held a meeting at Bishop College and Wiley University in
Marshall, Texas. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools established a committee to inspect "Negro" schools in 1930. In 1934 ACNY was reorganized and renamed. The group arranged the Secondary School Study for Negroes was conducted was conducted from 1940 to 1947 at sixteen high schools in 11 states. In 1948 ACSSN established a committee pursuing membership on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1957 schools for African Americans began to be accepted. After passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and school integration and integration of the accrediting body for schools in the South it disbanded. Bias in accreditation decisions regarding
HBCUs by the integrated organization and negative funding implications have been reported.
Leland Stanford Cozart, president emeritus of
Barber-Scotia College, wrote
A History Of The Association Of Colleges And Secondary Schools 1934-1965. It was published in 1967.
Rufus E. Clement wrote the Foreword. ==Membership==