A group of small Black colleges in Atlanta-Atlanta, Morehouse, Spelman, Clark, Morris Brown and Gammon - each guarding its independence but each dependent on Northern philanthropy. By the end of World War I, the Northern philanthropists were demanding mergers to improve educational quality. 1929 saw the creation of the Atlanta University Affiliation in which Atlanta University took on a new role as the graduate school, with Morehouse and Spelman as undergraduate colleges.