Tougaloo College facts for kids
Tougaloo College seal
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Former names
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Tougaloo University (1871–1916) |
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| Motto | "Where History Meets the Future" |
| Type | Private historically black college |
| Established | 1869 |
| Affiliation | UNCF |
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Religious affiliation
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United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) |
| Endowment | $10 million |
| President | Donzell Lee (interim) |
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Academic staff
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100 |
| Undergraduates | 650 |
| Location |
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U.S.
32°24′11″N 90°09′39″W / 32.40306°N 90.16083°W |
| Colors | Royal Blue & Scarlet |
| Nickname | Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs |
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Sporting affiliations
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NAIA – GCAC |
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Tougaloo College
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Strieby Hall in 1899
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| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Location | Tougaloo, Mississippi |
| Area | 15 acres (6.1 ha) |
| Built | 1848 |
| NRHP reference No. | 98001109 |
| Added to NRHP | August 31, 1998 |
Tougaloo College is a private college in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a historically black college (HBCU). This means it was founded to educate African American students. The college is connected to the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It started in 1869 to educate formerly enslaved people and their children. Many of its old buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places. Tougaloo College is also known for its important role in the Civil Rights Movement.
A Look at Tougaloo College's History
How Tougaloo College Started
In 1869, a group called the American Missionary Association of New York bought a large piece of land. It was a 500-acre former plantation in central Mississippi. Their goal was to build a college for freedmen, who were recently freed slaves, and their children. The main house and other buildings on the land were quickly turned into a school.
The next year, new buildings were added. These included Washington Hall for classrooms and Boarding Hall for students to live and eat. The United States government helped pay for these buildings. They also provided money for a school farm.
In 1871, the state of Mississippi officially recognized the school. It was named Tougaloo University. Some students paid a small fee, while others worked on the farm instead. The American Missionary Association provided most of the money to run the school.
Training Teachers
At first, Tougaloo University taught basic subjects. A main goal was to train African American students to become teachers. By the end of 1871, there were 142 students. The school needed more space and money. So, the state of Mississippi agreed to help. They set up a State Normal School at Tougaloo. This provided funds for teachers' salaries and student help.
Each county in Mississippi could send two students for free. Students who planned to teach in public schools also received a small payment each week. In 1873, Tougaloo added a program for students who wanted to become Christian ministers. They also expanded their industrial department. This included a cotton gin and tools for making furniture.
On January 23, 1881, Washington Hall, the main classroom building, burned down. Classes were held in a new barn for a while. A new building, Strieby Hall, was built later that year. It was named after a leader of the American Missionary Association.
Tougaloo started offering college-level courses in 1897. The first Bachelor of Arts degree was given in 1901. In 1916, the school's name changed to Tougaloo College.
Becoming a Private College Again
Tougaloo mainly trained teachers until 1920. After that, the college stopped getting money from the state. It then became a private college again.
Joining Forces with Other Schools
Over the years, Tougaloo College joined with other schools. In 1924, it merged with the Mount Hermon Female Seminary. Both schools had similar goals for education. Later, in 1954, the Southern Christian Institute also merged with Tougaloo. This brought more resources to the college. In 1962, the school's name officially returned to Tougaloo College.
Recent Events at Tougaloo
Carmen J. Walters became the college's fourteenth president in 2019. She was the second woman to hold this role. In 2023, Donzell Lee became the interim president.
In 2020, Tougaloo received a huge gift of $6 million from a giver named MacKenzie Scott. This was the largest single donation in the college's history.
Leaders of Tougaloo College
Tougaloo College has had many leaders over the years. Here is a list of its principals and presidents:
- Ebenezer Tucker (from 1869–1870, as principal)
- Andrew J. Steele (from 1870–1873, as principal)
- John K. Nutting (from 1873–1875, as principal/president)
- Leander A. Darling (from 1875–1877, as principal/president)
- George S. Pope (from 1877–1887)
- Frank G. Woodworth (from 1887–1912)
- William T. Holmes (from 1913–1933)
- Charles B. Austin (from 1933–1935, as acting)
- Judson L. Cross (from 1935–1945)
- Lionel B. Fraser (from 1945–1947, as acting)
- Harold C. Warren (from 1947–1955)
- Addison A. Branch (from 1955–1956, as acting)
- Samuel C. Kincheloe (from 1956–1960)
- Adam Daniel Beittel (from 1960–1964)
- George Albert Owens (from 1964–1965, as acting)
- George Albert Owens (from 1965–1984)
- J. Herman Blake (from 1984–1987)
- Charles A. Baldwin (from 1987–1988, as acting)
- Adib A. Shakir (from 1988–1994)
- Edgar E. Smith (from 1994–1995, as acting)
- Joseph A. Lee (from 1995–2001)
- James H. Wyche (from 2001–2002, as acting)
- Beverly W. Hogan (from 2002–2019)
- Carmen J. Walters (from 2019–2023)
- Donzell Lee (from 2023–present, as acting)
Exploring the Tougaloo Campus
The Tougaloo College campus is located in both Jackson, Mississippi and Madison County, Mississippi. It has a special Historic District. This area includes ten buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest building, the Robert O. Wilder Building, also known as "The Mansion," was built in 1860.
Woodworth Chapel was built by students in 1901. It was later restored in 2002. In 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation gave Tougaloo College an award for restoring the chapel. The chapel is home to the Union Church, which started with the college. Next to the chapel is Brownlee Gymnasium, built in 1947.
Tougaloo's Art and History Collections
Tougaloo College has a famous art collection. It started in 1963 with help from New York artists and critics. The collection includes art by African American, American, and European artists. Some famous African American artists in the collection are Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. There are 1,150 works, including paintings, sculptures, and drawings.
The Tougaloo Art Colony began in 1997. It lets people learn from and work with artists. The college also has the Civil Rights Library and Archives. These archives hold important papers, photos, and items from Civil Rights leaders. These include Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King Jr.. It also has works by blues musician B.B. King.
The college opened the Medgar Evers Museum in 1996. The family of Medgar Evers, a civil rights leader, gave their home to Tougaloo College. The home was restored to how it looked when Mr. Evers was assassinated there. It is now a museum open to the public. In 2020, the home became a national monument managed by the National Park Service.
Learning at Tougaloo College
Tougaloo College has a strong history of educating leaders. More than 40% of African American doctors and dentists in Mississippi studied here. Also, over one-third of the state's African American lawyers and educators came from Tougaloo.
In 2022, U.S. News & World Report ranked Tougaloo College #15 among historically black colleges and universities. This shows its high quality of education. The college is officially approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). This means it meets high standards for education.
Tougaloo College Sports
The sports teams at Tougaloo are called the Bulldogs. They are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). They mainly compete in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC).
Tougaloo has 11 different sports teams.
- Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, and tennis.
- Women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, soccer, tennis, and volleyball.
Famous People from Tougaloo College
Many notable people have been part of Tougaloo College, both as teachers and students.
Faculty
- Ernst Borinski (1901–1983), a sociologist.
- L. Zenobia Coleman (1898–1999), a librarian.
- James W. Loewen (1942–2021), an author.
- John U. Monro (1912–2002), director of the writing center.
Alumni
| Name | Class year | Notability | |
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| Reuben V. Anderson | 1965 | first black judge on the Mississippi Supreme Court | |
| Edward Blackmon, Jr. | 1971 | Mississippi House of Representatives member | |
| Colia Clark | civil rights activist | ||
| Aunjanue Ellis | attended | actor | |
| Slayton A. Evans, Jr. | 1965 | research chemist and professor | |
| Constance Slaughter-Harvey | 1967 | first black female judge in Mississippi | |
| Lawrence Guyot | 1963 | civil rights activist and leader | |
| Beverly Wade Hogan | 1973 | first female president of Tougaloo College | |
| Joyce Ladner | 1964 | sociologist, civil rights activist, and first female president of Howard University | |
| Anne Moody | 1964 | author and civil rights activist | |
| Joan Trumpauer Mulholland | 1964 | civil rights activist and first white student at Tougaloo | |
| Hakeem Oluseyi | 1991 | astrophysicist and science popularizer | |
| Aaron Shirley | 1955 | founder of Jackson Medical Mall | |
| Arthur Tate | first African American in the Mississippi State Senate since the Reconstruction era | ||
| Bennie Thompson | 1968 | U.S. Congressman | |
| Walter Turnbull, PhD | 1966 | founder of the Boys Choir of Harlem | |
| Walter Washington | former president of Alcorn State University | ||
| Karen Williams Weaver | 1982 | Mayor of Flint, Michigan | |
| Charles Young Jr. | Mississippi House of Representatives member | ||
| Tommie Mabry | 2011 | Author and advocate for youth |
