In 1871 Mississippi Governor James L. Alcorn recommended that the state
legislature support the formation of Alcorn University. The campus of
Oakland
College, a school founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1830, had been
abandoned after the Civil War and was purchased for forty thousand
dollars and designated for the education of black youth. The school
became Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1878, and Alcorn
State University in 1974. In this unique pictorial retrospective, over
one hundred years of growth and change at Alcorn are explored and
celebrated. Included within these pages are vintage photographs of the
students and faculty that have shaped the school's history. From early
classes and sporting events to distinguished alumni and prominent
leaders, the images depict a university continually striving to educate,
train, and inspire young African Americans. Alcorn's picturesque campus,
with moss-draped trees and scenic
lakes, provides a setting where, for over a century, students have been
given a multitude of opportunities to grow. The first land-grant
institution for blacks in the United States, Alcorn is a public
university committed to academic
excellence. The challenges faced by its students and faculty in its
earliest days brought forth an unyielding determination to succeed,
which is still evident today among its diverse student body.