The school was founded in 1895 as Bluefield Colored Institute and created as a “high graded school,” for the Negro youth in the nearby area. It later served as a teacher training school in the state’s then-segregated system of education. The new school, assisted by the federal Morrill Act, was to be located on four acres on the north side of the Norfolk and Western Railway’s massive Pocahontas Division rail yards in Bluefield, a central location within 100 miles of 70% of West Virginia’s black citizens.
Bluefield Colored Institute began modestly with 40 pupils under the supervision of Hamilton Hatter, Bluefield State’s first president, although he was denied the prestigious title, instead serving as “principal.” Hatter oversaw the construction of Mahood Hall, the administrative building, as well as Lewis Hall and West Hall dormitories. Hatter was an energetic leader who built the foundation of the College. He faced enormous challenges, running the institution with no legislative appropriations whatsoever for two years. In 1906, Hatter handed the reins of leadership at BCI to Robert P. Sims, a graduate of Hillsdale College, who would lead Bluefield State for three crucial decades. Sims showed dedication, commitment, and prudent management in his lengthy tenure at Bluefield State. By adopting formal teacher training–“normal education”—in 1909, Sims created the great role that Bluefield State would play, educating educators to carry traditions of excellence throughout the bustling coalfields, fulfilling the mission of its enabling legislation.
Enrollment climbed to 235 by 1920, with annual summer sessions for teacher certification attracting hundreds more. With efficient professional management and careful supervision, the College prospered, expanding to 23 acres, adding Payne Hall and colonnaded Conley Hall, faculty residences, and the stately President’s House. Enrollment soon exceeded six hundred, many of whom lived on the close-knit campus, termed the “terraced hills” for its verdant landscaping. Grateful graduates created the Alumni Association to rekindle collegiate memories and support programs of the institution. BSC students achieved notable distinction in a wide variety of fields.
Sims and his successor, Academic Dean and BCI alumnus Henry Dickason, president from 1936-1952, managed this growth with patience and resourcefulness. Bluefield State Teachers College, as the institution was renamed in 1931, was at the center of the rich cultural world of African-American society. Although the rough and tumble bituminous coalfields were far from the urban and sophisticated east coast, Sims and Dickason managed to involve their college heavily in the explosion of black American culture known as the “Harlem Renaissance,” bringing Langston Hughes to read poetry, John Hope Franklin to teach Negro History, and even heavyweight champion Joe Louis to box exhibitions in Arter Gymnasium. Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Dizzie Gillespie, and Count Basie entertained the active Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. Bluefield State’s “Big Blue” football team twice won national Negro College Athletic Association championships in the late 1920s.
A 1929 survey of the 702 alumni of Bluefield State demonstrated the college’s wide-ranging influence. There were no fewer than 326 school teachers, among dozens of administrators, physicians, pharmacists, ministers, businessmen and homemakers. The name “Bluefield State College” was adopted in 1943. After a half-century of inadequate salaries, extreme sacrifice, and passionate dedication, Bluefield State was finally awarded full academic accreditation in 1947, rewarding the institution’s measured progress. By September 1954, the state-supported colleges in West Virginia were integrated. Three white students (James Ernest Watkins, Joseph Tice and Douglas Ralph Whittaker) in a total body of 354 enrolled at Bluefield State.
Pyramids of Beta Pi, Bluefield State College 1955
By the 1960s, the College had a comprehensive four-year program of teacher education, arts and sciences, and engineering technology. Gradually a variety of two-year technical programs evolved in response to local needs.
During the late 1960s, black students protested that the state was transforming the school from a traditional black college to a white commuter college. One of the allegations made was that black faculty and staff were being fired and replaced by less qualified white personnel. On November 21, 1968, the racial tensions culminated in the bombing of the gymnasium. A $5,000 reward was offered by Governor Hulett C. Smith. Ironically, the administration responded by immediately closing the dormitories, which housed a significant percentage of the college’s out-of-state black student population, hastening the transition to a predominantly white college.
Please read “The Whitest Historically Black College” on NPR to learn more on how Bluefield State, with 90% white enrollment, receives federal funding as an HBCU.
West Virginia State University Football team, 1901
West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a historically black public university in Institute, West Virginia (near Charleston). It was one of the original group of African American land-grant colleges established by the second Morrill Act of 1890 and is the smallest land-grant institution in the country. The University is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
The school was established as the West Virginia Colored Institute in 1891 under the second Morrill Act which provided for land-grant institutions for black students in the 17 states that had segregated schools. The school opened its doors in May 1892 and had an enrollment of over 40 students. The faculty consisted of President James Edwin Campbell, Byrd Prillerman, and T.C. Friend. The curriculum consisted of courses in agriculture, horticulture, mechanical arts, and domestic science. Teacher education courses were added in 1893. Military education became an integral part of the school, and in 1899 the Legislature passed a bill to admit up to 60 cadets. In 1909, Booker T. Washington recommended his friend and noted educator, Byrd Prillerman, to serve as president. Noted African-American educator and statesman, Washington was instrumental in having the institution located in the Kanawha Valley. He visited the campus often and spoke at its first commencement exercise. During Prillerman’s 10-year administration, the school established itself as the center of black intellectual life in the state.
From 1891 through 1915, the school provided the equivalent of a high school education, with vocational training and teacher preparation for segregated public schools. In 1915, it became the West Virginia Collegiate Institute and began to offer college degrees. In 1919, John W. Davis became president of the institute. A Morehouse graduate, Davis recruited highly qualified faculty and focused on curriculum development. He persuaded noted historian Carter G. Woodson to assist him as academic dean. In 1927, the school was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, making it the first of 17 original black land-grand schools to be certified by a regional association and one of only four black colleges to gain such status. It also became the first public college in West Virginia to be accredited by North Central. In 1929, the name was changed toWest Virginia State College. With an enrollment of 1,000 students, the college contained divisions of Applied Arts and Sciences; Languages, Literature and Fine Arts; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; and Social Sciences and Philosophy.
West Virginia State President John Warren Davis talks to students working on an airplane in this 1939 photo. West Virginia State was the first African-American school to have a Civilian Pilot Training Program. The program operated at what was once Wertz Field adjacent to campus. Several of the students went on to become Tuskegee Airmen and to serve in the famous Army Air Corps 99th Pursuit Squadron.
In 1939, West Virginia State College became the first of six historically black colleges to be authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Authority to establish an aviation program. Benefiting from the presence of the Wertz Field airport adjacent to campus, the program supplied a number of black pilots to the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. Several college aviators joined the famed 99th Fighter Squadron and 332nd Fighter Group that served with distinction in the European Theater. During World War II, West Virginia State College was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. In 1942, a college ROTC program was established as an artillery unit. The ROTC tradition continues today, and the school has claimed 15 general officers who have graduated from West Virginia State, including Major General Charles C. Rogers.
West Virginia State College homecoming parade, Miss West Virginia State and attendants, 1948
West Virginia State College underwent a significant transformation under the guidance of William J.L. Wallace. In 1954, following the Brown v. Board of Education to desegregate public education, the college transformed from an all-black college with a primarily residential population to a predominantly commuter school with mostly white students. Nearly 400 white students applied for admission. By 1966, African-Americans represented but 20 percent of the total student population. This unique case of “reverse integration” garnered national attention and President Wallace hailed it as “a tribute to the character and courage of the people of Kanawha Valley.” As a result, West Virginia State adopted the motto “A Living Laboratory of Human Relations.” Enrollment substantially increased after the removal of racial barriers; in 2011–2012, WVSU’s student population was 61 percent white, 12.5 percent black, 1 percent Asian, 1 percent Hispanic, 0.5 percent American Indian, and 24 percent who preferred to not identify race.
In 1957, the school lost its land grant status in part due to desegregation efforts. The West Virginia Board of Education voted to end state funding needed to match federal land-grant aid to West Virginia State, the only 1890 land-grant institution to ever lose such funding. Although land-grant university funding is governed by federal laws, the federal aid is conditioned upon matching state funds. Under the leadership of President Hazo W. Carter, Jr., a 12-year quest was begun to restore the land-grant designation. The first step toward regaining the status came when Gov. Gaston Caperton signed a bill on Feb. 12, 1991, that had been passed by the Legislature to recognize the land-grant status on the state level. With the assistance from WV Senator Robert C. Byrd, the U.S. Congress fully restored land-grant status in 2001. West Virginia State’s birthright was restored and is recognized as an 1890 land-grant institution with recognition at the Federal level along with funding to carry out the mission of teaching, research, and public service. The land-grant institution of WVSU is named the Gus R. Douglass Land-Grant Institution.