Hampton University Chronology of Events
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Hampton University Chronology of Events 1863 with two teachers and fifteen students. General The Emancipation Oak is the site of the first Armstrong solicited first objects to establish a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to museum collection. former slaves within the City of Hampton. It was under this oak tree that Mrs. Mary Peake, 1868, September 21 daughter of a “free colored woman and an Commonwealth of Virginia grants charter to Englishman” conducted some of the first lessons Hampton Institute. for newly freed African American men and women. 1869, November 12 Cornerstone laid for Academic Hall, the first 1863 permanent classroom building. When the need of the freed people became too extensive, General B. F. Butler, chief in command 1870, June 4 at Fortress Monroe, used government funds and Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute was erected a large wooden building known as “The incorporated. Butler School.” 1870 1865 Original Academy Building was erected. The “Butler” school-house was turned over by the government in 1865 to the American Missionary 1871 Association, that supplied it with teachers until it First class graduated with five women and 14 became the property of the trustees of Hampton men. Institute upon whose grounds it stood. 1872, March 19 1866 First issue of Southern Workman was published. The overcrowding at The Butler School was Virginia Governor approved awarding of one-third eventually relieved by the erection of another of the state’s Morrill Act land grant funds to school at “slabtown” (an impromptu suburb of Hampton. Hampton), and by the building of the “Lincoln School” in 1866 by General Samuel Armstrong. 1874 The book Hampton and Its Students, published in 1867, October 1 1874, was written by two Hampton Institute A 160 acre Wood Farm was purchased for teachers: Mrs. M. F. Armstrong and Helen W. $9,000 by General Samuel Chapman Armstrong Ludlow. The book was sold to raise funds as the as site of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Hampton Singers travelled throughout the North. Institute. The Southern Colonial style Mansion House on the property was built before 1867 at a 1874, June 11 cost of $3,766. Virginia Hall was dedicated. It was partly sung up by the Hampton Singers at a cost of $98,000. It 1868, April 1 was built by students and outside labor. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute was founded by General Samuel Chapman Armstrong 1875, June 9 1886 First official seal of the Institute was accepted by Memorial Church was built at the original cost of Board of Trustees. $65,000 is an Italian Romanesque structure. The original and current yellow pine pews were built 1875, June 18 by Hampton Trade School students. Booker T. Washington graduated. 1891 1877, August 20 Faculty member Alice Bacon began the Hampton First meeting of the National Hampton Alumni Training School for Nurses on the campus. Association was held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. 1893, May 11 1878, April 13 General Samuel Chapman Armstrong died. Hollis First American Indian students arrived. Burke Frissell was appointed second principal. 1878, April 14 1894, November First Alumni Reunion was held. Hampton acquired Henry O. Tanner’s painting, “The Banjo Lesson.” 1878, September 12 Ground was broken for Wigwam, the dormitory 1896, November 6 for male American Indian students. It was Armstrong-Slater Memorial Trade School was planned by the staff and built by Hampton dedicated. Institute students. Construction cost was $14,700. 1898, September Business Department, the forerunner of the 1879, November 9 School of Business, was established. First Academic Hall was destroyed by fire. 1901 1880 Cleveland Hall, an addition to Virginia Hall, was “Shellbanks,” a stock and grain farm, was completed at a cost of $51,973. purchased to provide an agricultural laboratory for students and to supply the school. 1903 Collis P. Huntington Memorial Library was 1881, May 19 dedicated. This facility would house the library Academy Building, was constructed on the until 1992. foundations of the Academic Hall, was dedicated. 1904 1882 Academic course year was lengthened from three Winona Lodge, a residence for Native American years to four years of study. females was constructed. This building was demolished in the 1950’s and replaced by 1906, July 26 Twitchell and Davidson Halls. Land was acquired from Hampton Institute by National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 1882, April 15 (Current site of the VA Hospital). Stone Manor was completed. Marshall Hall (The Administration Building) was completed to house 1909, November 20 the library and offices of the principal and U.S. President William Howard Taft visited treasurer. Hampton as a recently elected trustee of the school. 1912 1930, April 21 Federal appropriations for American Indian Dr. Nathaniel Dett and choir sang before students at Hampton are withdrawn. President Herbert Hoover at the White House. 1930, July 1 1913 The name Hampton Normal and Agricultural Clarke Hall was dedicated. Institute was changed to Hampton Institute and the title of “principal” was changed to “president.” 1914 First Annual Ministers’ Conference was held. 1931 School of Nursing was established, offering 1916 diplomas after a three-year program. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute was approved as a four-year secondary school by the 1931, January 3 Department of Public Instruction for the Arthur Howe became the fifth president. Commonwealth of Virginia. 1931, June 3 1918, April 1 First class of the School of Music graduated. James E. Gregg was appointed as third principal. Robert C. Ogden Hall completed. R. Nathaniel 1931 Dett established the Musical Arts Society. Kelsey Hall, a dormitory for girls, was erected. 1918 1932, April 21 Marshall Hall was enlarged. The addition named Hampton Institute was accredited by Southern Palmer Hall. The building became the Marshall- Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools Palmer Hall. It is the current “Administration as a “Class B” school. Building.” 1932, May 21 1922 First master’s degree was awarded. George P. First bachelor’s degree was awarded in Phenix School, which served as the City of agricultural education. Hampton’s Senior High School for African Americans until the 1960s, was completed on the 1923 campus. Coleman Dupont Hall was completed to house natural sciences, biology, mathematics, chemistry 1933, January 24 and physics. Hampton Institute was accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools 1928, May 12 as a “Class A” school. First issue of the student newspaper, The Hampton Script, was published. 1933, May In a vote conducted by The Hampton Script, 1928, October 6 students select “Pirates” as the name of the Armstrong Field was dedicated. The original school mascot. stadium cost was $12,900. 1938, May 1930, January 30 Hampton Institute commissioned its first class of George P. Phenix was appointed as fourth Army officers. principal. 1940, October 1949, April First Annual Fall Convocation was held. Alonzo G. Moron became the eighth president and first African-American president of Hampton 1940, November 25 Institute. Malcolm MacLean was inaugurated as the sixth president. 1950 Entrance Gate, designed by William Moses and 1941, March 1 built by Trade School students was completed. Land (on the northern side of what is now I-64 East) that was acquired by the Virginia 1950, February 2 Department of Transportation (VDOT) at an John Biggers’ bronze Armstrong was unveiled. unknown date, was conveyed to the City of Hampton. 1953 Aerial maps of 1953 show one low bridge only 1942, July 8 between downtown Hampton and East Queen U.S. Naval Training School, the first offered at a Street leading to the main entrance to the black college, activated and continued until campus. August 1945. In addition to other sites on campus, students coming from other black 1956 schools were housed in the attic of Stone Auditorium of Clarke Hall named in honor of John building. They carved their names with dates on H. Wainwright (Class of 1888) was dedicated. the beams. 1957, February 15 1943 Land where I-64 East now runs past the campus Baccalaureate nursing program began under the was acquired for Right of Way (ROW) by the Hampton Institute Division of Nurse Education, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). with first class of three women graduating in This includes land behind the Hampton National 1946. Cemetery in Phoebus and almost to Mallory Street. 1943, June 25 Charles White mural, “The Contribution of the 1957, December 5 Negro to Democracy in America,” was dedicated Hampton Institute was admitted to the Southern in Clarke Hall. Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. 1943, October 29 1960, July 1 Scrolls were presented to 39 charter members of Jerome H. Holland became the ninth president. the Quarter Century Club during convocation. 1960, December 28 1944 Land on the northern side of I-64 East along Division of Trades and Industries closed. Woodlawn Road that was acquired by VDOT was conveyed to Zion Baptist Church. 1944, February 12 Ralph P. Bridgman appointed seventh president. 1962, October 8 Land acquired by VDOT behind the Hampton 1944, October National Cemetery and almost to Mallory Street Graduate courses in education and guidance for ROW to build I-64 East was conveyed to techniques began. Frederick Helmer. 1968, September 26 1977, June Martin Luther King Hall, the Social Sciences William J. Murtagh, Keeper of the National Building, was dedicated. The Natural Sciences Register, sent a letter to Mr. Tucker Hill, Building was also completed and would later be Executive Director, Virginia Historic Landmarks dedicated Thomas W. Turner Hall on January 29, Commission, in which he emphasized the need 1978. Dr. Thomas Wyatt Turner, the first black to “to be certain that the historic integrity of earn a doctorate degree in botany, served on the Hampton Institute has been identified and Hampton Institute faculty from 1924 to 1945.