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Brief History Of Alcorn Essay

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Ultimately, for more than a century the institution of higher learning now known as Alcorn State University has been devoted to the outstanding education of black students. Historically established for this purpose, however Alcorn has definitely struggled against many great odds. The new history of Alcorn shows the unrelenting love and support of its community and alumni as they face the challenges making major modifications to century-old traditions. Founded in 1871, Alcorn State University is the oldest historically black land-grant institution in the United States and the second oldest state supported institution in the state of Mississippi. The college is located outside of Lorman in Claiborne County area. Alcorn was first known as Oakland College, a school for white students that was proven to be …show more content…

John Adams Martin, another Alcorn alumni became the next president. He gained recognition for reorganizing the association for black educators that was initiated by President Burrus, naming it MATCS. Preston Sewell Bowles, was elected president of Alcorn in 1944-1945. The current president’s office is in a building named after him. During the times of 1957-1969, President John Dewey Boyd was in office, the school’s library is named after him. The Walter Washington building withholds six floors. Among Alcorn’s most notable alumni is Medgar Evers (1925-1963), the first field secretary for the NAACP, founded 1909, who was assassinated outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1963. In March 1957, Clennon King (1920-2000), an African American minister and Alcorn history instructor, incited student anger by publishing a series of articles in the Jackson State Times, a white Mississippi newspaper known as a segregationist publication. The articles associated the NAACP with communism, criticized Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (1908-1972), and included photos of Alcorn students. Students responded by boycotting King’s classes and demanding his dismissal from the

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