Eastern Oklahoma State College is a public

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...

Wilburton, Oklahoma Wilburton is a city in Latimer County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Latimer County. The city had a population of 2,843 at the 2010 census, a decline of 4.3 percent from the figure of 2,972 recorded in 2000. Robbers Cave St ...

. It is accredited by the

North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...

. The school has a branch campus in McAlester and teaching sites in

Antlers Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males ...

(Kiamichi Technology Center)EOSC website
Retrieved February 7, 2014. and

Idabel Idabel is a city in and county seat of McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,010 at the 2010 census. It is located in the southeast corner of Oklahoma, a tourist area known as Choctaw Country. History Idabel was est ...

. The enrollment at 2000 was 1,918.Butler, Mary Edith
"Eastern Oklahoma State College,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture,'' Accessed February 25, 2016.

History

Founded in 1908 as the Oklahoma School of Mines and Metallurgy, Eastern Oklahoma State College primarily focused on

mining engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

. The school opened on January 11, 1909, with one hundred students and Dr. George E. Ladd as president. The first graduates received diplomas in 1912. The school added liberal arts educational programs later. It closed during World War I because of insufficient enrollment, but reopened after the war. In 1927, the mining programs were phased out and the school was renamed as Eastern Oklahoma College. The Oklahoma Miner Institute, which is housed on campus, is a legacy of the original purpose of the school. The Oklahoma Legislature again renamed the school in 1941 as the Eastern Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College and put it under the supervision of the State Board of Agriculture. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited the school in March 1954. In 1972, it was renamed as the Eastern Oklahoma State College, with its own governing board.

Notable alumni

* Tom Colbert, Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court * Merlin Little Thunder, Native American artist *

George Nigh George Patterson Nigh (born June 9, 1927) is an American politician and civic leader from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Nigh served as the 17th and the 22nd governor of Oklahoma and as the eighth and tenth lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. He was th ...

, former Governor of Oklahoma (1979-1987) * Robert Purcell, National Institute of Health head of hepatitis viruses section

References

External links

Official website

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Eastern Oklahoma State College
{{authority control Education in Latimer County, Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Latimer County, Oklahoma Community colleges in Oklahoma NJCAA athletics