Huntsville in Walker County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute
Photographed by Jeff Leichsenring, February 19, 2024
1. Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute Marker
Inscription.
Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute. . Following the end of slavery, African American communities established education institutions for freed African Americans. After the end of Reconstruction, federal funding for African American schools decreased, so African American churches often funded these schools. While primary schools opened in Huntsville soon after Emancipation, there were no normal or collegiate institutions for African Americans. In the early 1880s, Bishops Richard H. Cain and Thomas M.D. Ward and the Reverend Charles W. Porter of the African Methodist Episcopal Church led a movement to expand opportunities for higher education for Huntsville-area African Americans. After deciding to establish a college, Porter and other community leaders created a board of trustees, which consisted of prominent African American leaders, including Joshua Houston, Memphis Allen, Joseph Mettawer and John "Tip" Hightower. , In September 1883, the board of trustees purchased from S.R. Smith a 54-acre plot for the location of Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute. Housed in a two-story brick building near this site, the school opened on September 17, 1883, with ten students enrolled and with faculty headed by Professor C.W. Luckie. The school followed a classical liberal arts curriculum, teaching Latin, Greek, mathematics and grammar. The school also had domestic arts and a manual labor department. By 1884, about 164 students, including boarding students, attended the school. While the school was only open for a short time, it had a profound impact on the Huntsville African American community. In the years following Emancipation, the Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute symbolized African Americans' efforts to secure the promises of freedom.
Following the end of slavery, African American communities established education institutions for freed African Americans. After the end of Reconstruction, federal funding for African American schools decreased, so African American churches often funded these schools. While primary schools opened in Huntsville soon after Emancipation, there were no normal or collegiate institutions for African Americans. In the early 1880s, Bishops Richard H. Cain and Thomas M.D. Ward and the Reverend Charles W. Porter of the African Methodist Episcopal Church led a movement to expand opportunities for higher education for Huntsville-area African Americans. After deciding to establish a college, Porter and other community leaders created a board of trustees, which consisted of prominent African American leaders, including Joshua Houston, Memphis Allen, Joseph Mettawer and John "Tip" Hightower.
In September 1883, the board of trustees purchased from S.R. Smith a 54-acre plot for the location of Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute. Housed in a two-story brick building near this site, the school opened on September 17, 1883, with ten students enrolled and with faculty headed by Professor C.W. Luckie. The school followed a classical liberal arts curriculum, teaching Latin, Greek, mathematics and grammar. The school also had domestic arts
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and a manual labor department. By 1884, about 164 students, including boarding students, attended the school. While the school was only open for a short time, it had a profound impact on the Huntsville African American community. In the years following Emancipation, the Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute symbolized African Americans' efforts to secure the promises of freedom.
Erected 2018 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 20117.)
Location. 30° 43.64′ N, 95° 33.628′ W. Marker is in Huntsville, Texas, in Walker County. It is at the intersection of Old Madisonville Rd and Pleasant St, on the right when traveling south on Old Madisonville Rd. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Huntsville TX 77320, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American South and on the Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Republic of Texas, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 21, 2024. It was originally submitted on February 20, 2024, by Jeff Leichsenring of Garland, Texas. This page has been viewed 521 times since then and 105 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on February 20, 2024, by Jeff Leichsenring of Garland, Texas. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
