Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden-Sydney College. Hampden Sydney, Virginia. , Hampden-Sydney College, in continuous operation since November 10, 1775, was established "to form good men and good citizens." One of the few remaining all-male colleges today, it was named for John Hampden (1594-1643) and Algernon Sydney (1622-1683), champions of parliamentary rule in England. Patrick Henry and James Madison were early trustees, and U.S. President William Henry Harrison was a member of the class of 1791. Student companies were formed in the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War., During the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the college did not publicly take sides. Some faculty children attended the all-white private school Prince Edward Academy, when all of the county's public schools were closed to stave off integration. Several Hampden-Sydney students taught children in the Prince Edward Free Schools, which were established for Black students during this period., Without fanfare, the college enrolled its first Black student in 1968; the hiring of African American faculty members soon followed. Through more than 200 years of strong leadership, Hampden-Sydney College continues to have a strong, active student body and has maintained its reputation for excellence in education men of all origins., [Captions:] , Hampden-Sydney student William Bennett tutors a Black child in 1962. Many community members tried to help preserve basic educational opportunities in Prince Edward County while the public schools were closed., (Right) Hampden-Sydney College, like many other public and private colleges of its time, was open only to white students. It opened its doors to students of all races, however, a decade after this picture was taken in 1957. Cushing Hall, built in 1822, is in the background., The log cabin of the Hampden-Sydney College Ministerial Association, a student professional club, became a makeshift classroom where faculty wives taught Black children. These classes were later suspended, however, as a result of the college's official policy of neutrality in the school integration controversy., U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy came to Farmville in September 1964 to view the recently opened Free Schools. While here, he spoke at Hampden-Sydney College and received a portrait of his brother, the late John F. Kennedy, painted by Hampden-Sydney College student Louis Briel. W. Taylor Reveley II, president of the college, stands behind the portrait.