Alcorn State University was founded on the site originally occupied by Oakland College, a school for whites established by the Presbyterian Church.  Oakland College closed its doors at the beginning of the Civil War so that its students could answer the call to arms. Upon failing to reopen at the end of the war, the property was sold to the state of Mississippi and renamed Alcorn University in honor of James L. Alcorn in 1871, then governor of the state of Mississippi.  Hiram R. Revels resigned his seat in the United States Senate to become Alcorn's first president. The state legislature provided $50,000 in cash for ten successive years for the establishment and overall operations of the college. The state also granted Alcorn three-fifths of the proceeds earned from the sale of thirty thousand acres of land scrip for agricultural colleges. The land was sold for $188,928 with Alcorn receiving a share of $113,400. This money was to be used solely for the agricultural and mechanical components of the college. From its beginning, Alcorn State University was a land-grant college. In 1878, the name Alcorn University was changed to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. The university's original 225 acres of land have grown to become a 1,700 acre campus. The goals for the college set by the Mississippi legislature clearly emphasized training rather than education. The school, like other black schools during these years, was less a college than a trade school.  At first the school was exclusively for black males but in 1895 women were admitted. Today, women outnumber men at the university eighteen hundred to twelve hundred.  In 1974 Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College became Alcorn State University. Governor William L. Waller signed House Bill 298 granting university status to Alcorn and the other state supported colleges. In truth, this law created a change of name rather than of purpose. Alcorn had already become a more diversified university. It provides an undergraduate education that enables students to continue their work in graduate and professional schools, engage in teaching, and enter other professions. It also provides graduate education to equip students for further training in specialized fields while they contribute to the advancement of knowledge through scholarly research and inquiry.  Alcorn began with eight faculty members in 1871. Today there are more than five hundred members of the faculty and staff. The student body has grown from 179 mostly local male students to more than 3,000 students from all over the world.  While early graduates of Alcorn had limited horizons, more recent alumni are successful doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers, principals, administrators, managers, and entrepreneurs. Alcorn has had fifteen presidents with Dr. Clinton Bristow,Jr. becoming the sixteenth president in 1995. Of these, Dr. Walter Washington, who assumed the presidency in 1969, was the longest-tenured president in Alcorn's history.  Over the decades the college that once was a struggling institution has become one of the leading black universities in the nation. Alcorn State is now fully accredited with seven schools and degree programs in more than fifty areas including a nursing program. The facilities have increased from three historic buildings to approximately 80 modern structures with an approximate value of $71 million.  Alcorn will continue to serve the generations to come. Its distinct heritage will never be lost. Throughout the university's history, Alcorn has followed a carefully structured plan to retain and enhance the image and potential of students and to attract young people whose intent is to receive a quality education. Alcorn has served the state of Mississippi, the nation, and the world for over one hundred and twenty-five years. Noteworthy Historical Events 1830 Oakland Memorial Chapel, famed landmark and oldest building on the campus, was constructed. Here, in 1831, the first degree issued by a Mississippi institution was conferred. 1830 Belle Lettres, Dormitory Two, and Dormitory Three, also historical landmarks, were constructed. 1830 President's Home erected. 1871 Oakland College property purchased by State of Mississippi. 1871 Hiram R. Revels elected President. 1871 Alcorn University created by an act of the Mississippi State Legislature on May 13. 1878 Name changed from Alcorn University to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College and designated as a land-grant college under the Morrill Act of 1862. 1882 John H. Burrus elected President. 1890 Alcorn A.& M. College designated as an 1890 Land - grant College by the Mississippi State Legislature. 1893 Wilson H. Reynolds elected President. (Professor Andrew J. Howard completed the unfinished year of President Reynolds because of death.) 1894 Thomas J. Galloway elected President. 1896 E.H. Triplett elected President. 1899 W.H. Lanier elected President. 1903 Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College became co- educational. 1905 L.J. Rowan elected President. (First Administration) 1911 John A. Martin elected President. 1915 L.J. Rowan elected President. (Second Administration) 1924 College credit summer school started. 1926 Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College became accredited. 1928 Bowles Hall completed. A combination classroom, laboratory and office building. 1929 Harmon Hall constructed. Now an office building. 1934 William H. Bell elected President. 1939 Lanier Hall (dormitory for women students) erected. 1939 Alcorn A.& M. College accredited as a "B" college by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. 1944 P.S. Bowles elected President. 1945 William H. Pipes elected President. 1948 Alcorn College made an accredited "A" college by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. 1949 J.R. Otis elected President. 1951 William H. Bell Hall (Dining Hall) constructed (new additions and renovations in 1967 and 1976). 1951 The college laundry erected. 1955 Eunice Powell Hall constructed. Contains offices, classrooms, and laboratories for the Home Economics Department. 1956 Alice Tanner Hall erected. 1956 Dorothy Gordon Gray Home Management House (Home Management House) erected. 1957 J.D. Boyd elected President. 1959 E.E. Simmons Gymnasium (Old Gymnasium) erected. The building is equipped to show motion pictures, and to accommodate intramural basketball games, drama productions, and dances. 1959 Renovation of Oakland Memorial Chapel and the President's home. 1960 E. Albert Dumas Hall (Library Science) completed. This two-story structure houses offices, classrooms, and laboratories for the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Business. 1961 Men's and Women's Faculty Dormitories constructed. Sixteen rooms each. 1961 Two brick buildings containing ten family apartments and ten three bedroom homes for faculty and staff members were completed. 1961 Mechanical Arts Building completed. Now houses ROTC Program. 1962 Mabel Thomas Hall (New Women's Dormitory) completed. 1962 Albert L. Lott Hall (New Men's Dormitory) completed. 1963 Felix H. Dunn Infirmary (The Infirmary) erected containing fourteen beds; air-conditioned and equipped to provide emergency as well as routine hospital and medical care for the college community. 1964 James L. Bolden Student Union Building completed (a multi-million dollar annex added in 1972). The building contains a grill, bookstore, post office, bowling alley, game room, student publication office, meeting rooms, and guest rooms. The building is of modern architectural design and completely air- conditioned. Known as the SUB, this building has become the hub of the student social life on campus. 1964 Fine Arts Building completed. The building contains speech and language laboratories, a fine arts library with listening rooms, band and choir rehearsal rooms, practice studios for music students, classrooms, offices, art work rooms, and the Little Theatre. 1965 Robinson Hall Completed. A modern and spacious dormitory for female students. 1965 Six faculty houses were constructed in Johnson Village. (Five houses were added in 1969 and three more in 1971.) 1967 Revels Hall constructed. A modern, air- conditioned dormitory for male students. 1968 Burrus Hall completed (dormitory for female students.) 1968 Water Treatment Plant constructed. 1969 John Dewey Boyd Library constructed. 1969 Walter Washington elected President. 1971 The Alcorn State University Branch of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station established. 1971 The Alcorn State University Branch of the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service established. 1971 ARMY ROTC Unit established. 1971 Honors Curriculum Program established. 1972 W.S. Demby Men's Tower (Men's Tower) constructed. 1972 Cleopatra D. Thomas Women's Tower (Women's Tower) constructed. 1972 Swine Research Center constructed. 1972 Truck Crops Research Center constructed. 1972 David C. Carter (Dairy Facility) erected. 1972 Landing strip for small aircraft completed. 1973 Mat Thomas Jr. Garden Apartments (Faculty Garden Apartments) completed. 1973 University/Industry Cluster Program established. 1974 Alcorn A.& M. College name changed to Alcorn State University. 1974 Biological Research Building #1 constructed. United States Department of Agriculture Microbial Conversion Project presently being conducted. 1975 Davey L. Whitney Complex (Health, Physical Education and Recreation Complex) completed. 1975 Division of Graduate Studies established. 1975 Addition to Water Plant. 1975 Oakland Memorial Chapel entered into the National Register of Historic Places. 1977 Cora S. Balmat School of Nursing (Nursing Facility) established. 1977 $300,000 Willie Mae Latham Taylor Park (Outdoor Recreation Park) completed. 1977 Biological Research Building #2 constructed. United States Department of Agriculture Growth Hormone Project (Cyclic-AMP) completed. 1977 Division of Business established. 1977 Walter W. Washington Administration-Classroom Building completed. 1980 NCATE Accreditation for Basic Education programs. 1981 Industrial Technology Building completed. Initial Accreditation of Basic Programs by National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. 1981 Johnnie B. Collins Beef Research Facility (Beef Research Facility) completed. 1981 Stadium Dressing Facility completed. 1981 National Association of Schools of Music Accreditation (Bachelor of Music Education). 1981 National League for Nursing Accreditation (Associate of Science). 1982 National League for Nursing Accreditation (Bachelor of Science). 1983 American Dietetics Association approval (Food and Nutrition and Institutional Management Programs). 1983 General College for Excellence established. 1984 Nursing School at Natchez completed. 1984 NCATE Accreditation for Graduate programs in Education. 1987 WPRL FM began broadcasting to Southwest Mississippi. 1988 Laundromat completed. 1989 President George Bush gave commencement address. 1990 Kellogg Nursing Center completed. 1993 Academic Divisions elevated to Schools. 1994 Rudolph E. Waters named Interim President. 1995 Clinton Bristow, Jr., named President. 1996 Physical Plant Building completed.