Tougaloo College is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
historically black college
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
in the
Tougaloo area of
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...
. It is affiliated with the
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...
and
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
. It was originally established in 1869 by
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
–based Christian missionaries for the education of freed
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
and their offspring. From 1871 until 1892 the college served as a teachers' training school funded by the state of Mississippi. In 1998, the buildings of the old campus were added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Tougaloo College has a rich history of civic and social activism, including the
Tougaloo Nine.
History
Establishment
In 1869, the
American Missionary Association of New York purchased of one of the largest former
plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
in central Mississippi to build a college for
freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
and their children, recently freed slaves. The purchase included a standing
mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...
and outbuildings, which were immediately converted for use as a school.
[Edward Mayes]
''History of Education in Mississippi''
United States Bureau of Education Circular of Information No. 2, 1889. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1899; p. 259. The next year expansion of facilities began in earnest with the construction of two new buildings — Washington Hall, a 70-foot-long edifice containing classrooms and a lecture hall, and Boarding Hall, a two-story building which included a kitchen and dining hall, a laundry, and dormitories for 30 female students.
Costs of construction were paid by the United States government through the education department of its
Bureau of Refugees and Freedmen.
Additional funds, totaling $25,500 in all, were provided for development of the school farm, including monies for farm implements and livestock.
In 1871, the
Mississippi State Legislature
The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 me ...
granted the new institution a formal charter under the name of Tougaloo University. No contingency fund was provided for the day-to-day operation of the school, with some students paying a tuition of $1 per month while others attended tuition free, contributing labor on the school farm in lieu of fees.
The cost of two teachers at the school for five months were paid by the county boards of education of
Hinds Hinds may refer to:
Deer, especially does
*Deer
People with the surname Hinds:
*Hinds (surname)
In places:
* Hinds, New Zealand, a small town
* Hinds County, Mississippi, a US county
*Hinds Lake, a lake in Minnesota
*Hinds River, a river that flo ...
and Madison Counties; all additional operating funds were provided by the American Missionary Association.
In its initial incarnation, Tougaloo University was not a
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
in the modern sense of the term, instead serving as an institution which provided basic education of black students born under slavery along with the training of capable African-American students for service as teachers. At the end of 1871, the school included 94 "elementary students", 47 that were part of the "normal school", and 1 categorized as "academic" — a total student body of 142.
[Mayes, ''History of Education in Mississippi,'' p. 260.] At this time the school found itself in dire need of expanded facilities and operational funds and an appeal was made by three leaders of Tougaloo University to the Mississippi Superintendent of Public Education for a state role in the institution.
Legislation followed authorizing the establishment of a State Normal School on the grounds of Tougaloo and providing a total of $4,000 for two years to help provide teachers' salaries, student aid, and for the purchase of desks.
As part of the establishment of the Normal School at Tougaloo, each county in the state was provided with two free scholarships, and every student declaring an intention to teach in Mississippi's common schools was to be allotted a stipend of 50 cents per week out of the state funds for student aid, an amount capped at $1,000 per year.
[Mays, ''History of Education in Mississippi,'' p. 261.]
In 1873, Tougaloo University added a theological department for students intending on entering the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
ministry and expanded its industrial department, adding a
cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
, apparatus for grinding corn, and developing capacity for the manufacture of simple furniture on site.
On January 23, 1881, Washington Hall — the main classroom building — caught fire during religious services and was entirely destroyed.
[Mayes, ''History of Education in Mississippi,'' p. 263.] For the rest of the academic year, classes were conducted in a new barn recently constructed on campus, nicknamed "Ayrshire Hall".
In the spring, a brickyard was established on campus and on May 31, 1881, the foundation was laid for a new classroom building, a three-storey facility named Strieby Hall after Reverend M.E. Strieby of New York, a venerated leader of the American Missionary Association.
Courses for college credit were first offered in 1897, and the first Bachelor of Arts degree was awarded in 1901.
In 1916, the name of the institution was changed to Tougaloo College.
Return to private status
Tougaloo remained predominantly a teacher training school until 1920 when the college ceased receiving aid from the state.
Mergers
Six years after Tougaloo's founding, the Home Missionary Society of the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
obtained a charter from the Mississippi State Legislature to establish a school at
Edwards, Mississippi
Edwards is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,034 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 1,347 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson Ja ...
, to be known as
Southern Christian Institute
Southern Christian Institute was a boarding school for African American students in Edwards, Mississippi. In 1954 it merged with Tougaloo College. SCI was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic ...
. That same year,
Sarah Ann Dickey
Sarah Ann Dickey (April 25, 1838 – January 23, 1904) was an American educator from Ohio who in 1875 founded Mount Hermon Female Seminary, a historically black institution of higher education for women in Clinton, Mississippi. She returned to t ...
, who had worked with the American Missionary Association since the 1860s, established the
Mount Hermon Female Seminary
Mount Hermon Female Sanctuary (18751924) in Clinton, Mississippi was a historically black institution of higher education for women.
History
Founded in 1875 by Sarah Ann Dickey, the school was patterned after Dickey's alma mater, Mount Holyoke ...
, which would later merge with Tougaloo in 1924, as the two schools had similar ideals and goals. Similarly, the Southern Christian Institute would merge with Tougaloo in 1954.
The new college combined the resources of the two supporting bodies and renewed its dedication to educational advancement and the improvement of race relations in Mississippi. The alumni bodies of the two institutions united to become the National Alumni Association of Tougaloo Southern Christian College. In 1962, by vote of the board of trustees, and with the agreement of the supporting bodies, the school's name was returned to its last before the 1954 merger, Tougaloo College.
Recent history
Carmen J. Walters, the fourteenth president (and second female president), began her tenure July 1, 2019. In 2020, Tougaloo received $6 million from philanthropist
MacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott ('' née'' Tuttle, formerly Bezos; April 7, 1970) is an American novelist and philanthropist. As of September 2022, she has a net worth of US$33.4 billion, owing to a 4% stake in Amazon, the company founded by her ex-husband J ...
. It is the largest gift from a single donor in Tougaloo's history.
Campus
![Woodworth Chapel at Tougaloo College](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Woodworth_Chapel_at_Tougaloo_College.jpg)
The campus is in
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
, and in
Madison County. It uses a "
Tougaloo, Mississippi
Tougaloo (TUG-a-lu) is an area in Jackson and in Hinds County, Mississippi. Its ZIP Code, 39174, is assigned to the area encompassing Tougaloo College, which is in Madison County.
The U.S. Postal Service operates the Tougaloo Post Office.
Educa ...
" mailing address.
The campus includes a Historic District, which comprises ten buildings that are each listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. The three anchors of the Historic District are the
Robert O. Wilder Building, also known as "The Mansion"; Woodworth Chapel, and Brownlee Gymnasium. Standing in the center of the campus, "The Mansion" overlooks the ensemble of buildings forming the college's historic core.
The Mansion, constructed in 1860, was the home of John W. Boddie, a wealthy cotton planter, and the centerpiece of his plantation. The first building to be used for Tougaloo College, it is the oldest building on campus. It is presently being restored.
Woodworth Chapel, originally known as Woodworth Church, was built in 1901 by students under the direction of Walker Frazier, head carpenter. It was restored and rededicated in 2002. In September 2004, the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...
awarded Tougaloo College the National Preservation Honor Award for the restoration of Woodworth Chapel. The restoration was also recognized by the Mississippi Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
, who bestowed its Honor Award. Woodworth Chapel houses the Union Church, founded alongside the college as a
Congregational Church
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
. Today, it is one of two congregations of the
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...
in Mississippi. Located in the heart of the campus beside Woodworth Chapel is Brownlee Gymnasium. Built in 1947, the building was named in honor of Fred L. Brownlee, former general secretary of the American Missionary Association.
The college holds the prestigious Tougaloo Art Collection. It was begun in 1963, by a group of prominent New York artists, curators and critics, initiated by the late Ronald Schnell, Professor Emeritus of Art, as a mechanism to motivate his art students. The collection consists of pieces by African American, American and European artists. Included in the African-American portion of the collection are pieces by notable artists
Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", although by his own ...
,
Romare Bearden
Romare Bearden (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York City a ...
,
David Driskell
David C. Driskell (June 7, 1931 – April 1, 2020) was an American artist, scholar and curator; recognized for his work in establishing African-American Art as a distinct field of study. In his lifetime, Driskell was cited as one of the world ...
,
Richard Hunt,
Elizabeth Catlett
Elizabeth Catlett, born as Alice Elizabeth Catlett, also known as Elizabeth Catlett Mora (April 15, 1915 – April 2, 2012) was an African American sculptor and graphic artist best known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in th ...
and
Hale Woodruff
Hale Aspacio Woodruff (August 26, 1900 – September 6, 1980) was an American artist known for his murals, paintings, and prints.
Early life, family and education
Woodruff was born in Cairo, Illinois, in on August 26, 1900. He grew up in a black ...
. The 1,150 works in the Tougaloo Art Collection include paintings, sculptures, drawings, collages, various forms of graphic art and ornamental pieces.
The Tougaloo Art Colony is another distinctive resource of the college. Begun in 1997 under the leadership of former College trustee, Jane Hearn, the Tougaloo Art Colony affords its participants exposure to and intensive instruction by nationally and internationally renowned artists. The annual one-week venue is held in July and includes a Thursday night event open to the public. Past instructors include David Driskell, David R. MacDonald, John McDaniel, Akemi Nakana Cohn, Moe Booker, Jamaal Sheats, Jerre Allen, Kevin Cole, Gail Shaw-Clemons and Hyun Chong Kim. Tougaloo College holds The Civil Rights Library and Archives. Among the items in The Civil Rights Library and Archives are the original papers, photographs and memorabilia of movement leaders including
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer (; Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting rights, voting and women's rights activist, Community organizing, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She was the co-foun ...
,
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...
and
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
In addition, it contains works of notable writers, poets and blues musician
B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...
. Many of these are rare, valuable first editions.
The college established the Medgar Evers Museum in 1996. The Evers family (trustee
Myrlie Evers-Williams
Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams (née Beasley; born March 17, 1933) is an American civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her husband Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist ...
and her children with Medgar) donated their home to Tougaloo College for its historical significance. In 1996, the home was restored to its condition at the time of Mr. Evers' assassination in the driveway. It is operated as a house museum and is open to the public. In 2020, the home was acquired by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
and designated a national monument.
''
Ghosts of Mississippi
''Ghosts of Mississippi'' is a 1996 American biographical courtroom drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Woods. The plot is based on the true story of the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the ...
'' (1996) included scenes filmed at the house and chronicled the quest for justice following Mr. Evers' assassination. The production company helped provide funding for restoration of the house.
The campus includes housing for faculty. Dependent children living with faculty would be zoned to the
Madison County School District. It is zoned to Ann Smith Elementary. Residents are in turn zoned to Highland Elementary School, Olde Town Middle School, and
Ridgeland High School.
Academics
According to the Tougaloo College website, the college has "historically produced over 40% of the African American physicians and dentists practicing in the state of Mississippi, more than one-third of the state's African American attorneys and educators including teachers, principals, school superintendents, college/university faculty and administrators."
In the 2022,''U.S. News & World Report'' college and university rankings, Tougaloo College ranked #15 among
historically black colleges and universities
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...
.
Tougaloo College is
accredited
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...
(SACS); the college was initially accredited by SACS in 1953. Tougaloo College was previously on probationary status; it was removed from probation in 2012 and is currently in good standing with SACS.
Athletics
The Tougaloo athletic teams are called the Bulldogs. The college is a member of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA), primarily competing in the
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) is a college athletic conference made up entirely of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that's affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member inst ...
(GCAC) since the 1981–82 academic year.
Tougaloo competes in 11 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer and tennis; while women's sports include basketball, competitive cheer, cross country, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Former sports included men's golf.
Notable people
Faculty
*
Adam Daniel Beittel
Adam Daniel Beittel (December 19, 1898 – July 26, 1988) was a minister, academic and supporter of civil rights. He was president of Talladega College from 1945 to 1952 and Tougaloo College from 1960 to 1964.
Early life and education
Be ...
, (1898-1988) president of Tougaloo College from 1960-1964
*
Ernst Borinski
Ernst Borinski (November 26, 1901 – May 26, 1983) was a German-Jewish sociologist and intellectual, who contributed to undermining Jim Crow laws in Mississippi during the 1950s and 1960s.
Background
Borinski was born in the city of Kattowi ...
(1901-1983), sociologist and intellectual
*
L. Zenobia Coleman (1898 – 1999), librarian
*
James W. Loewen
James William Loewen (February 6, 1942August 19, 2021) was an American sociologist, historian, and author. He was best known for his 1995 book, '' Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong''.
Early life
Loewen ...
, author.
*
John U. Monro (1912 – 2002), director of the writing center
Alumni
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial athletics website''Who Speaks for the Negro'' Vanderbilt University documentary website
{{authority control
*
Historically black universities and colleges in the United States
Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Church of Christ
Liberal arts colleges in Mississippi
Universities and colleges in the Jackson metropolitan area, Mississippi
Educational institutions established in 1869
Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Schools in Madison County, Mississippi
Schools in Jackson, Mississippi
American Missionary Association
1869 establishments in Mississippi
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi
National Register of Historic Places in Hinds County, Mississippi
Schools supported by the Freedmen's Bureau
Private universities and colleges in Mississippi