Hampton University

Hampton University

File:Hampton University logo.gif
Motto	"My Home by the Sea"
Type	Private coeducational
Established	April 1, 1868
President	Dr. William R. Harvey
Undergraduates	4,565
Postgraduates	552
Location	Hampton , Virginia , USA
Campus	Suburban
Athletics	15 sports teams
Mascot	Pirate
Website	http://www.hamptonu.edu/

Hampton University (formerly Hampton Institute) is an American University located in Hampton, Virginia. The campus overlooking the northern edge of the harbor of Hampton Roads was founded on the grounds of "Little Scotland", a former plantation in Elizabeth City County not far from Fort Monroe and the Grand Contraband Camp, each tangible symbols of freedom for former slaves shortly after the end of the American Civil War.

First led by former Union General Samuel C. Armstrong, among the school's famous alumni is educator Dr. Booker T. Washington. Under what is now called the Emancipation Oak tree, Mary Smith Peake taught the first classes on September 17, 1861, in defiance of a Virginia law against teaching slaves, free blacks and mulattos to read or write, a law which had cut her own education short years earlier. Several years later, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was read to local freedmen under the same historic tree, which is still located on the campus today, and also serves as a symbol for the modern City of Hampton.

History

Civil War

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Union-held Fort Monroe in southeastern Virginia at the mouth of Hampton Roads became a gathering point and safe haven of sorts for fugitive slaves. These individuals were labeled "contraband of War by the commander, General Benjamin F. Butler, and thereby safe from return to slave owners. As large numbers of individuals sought status as contrabands, they built the Grand Contraband Camp nearby from materials reclaimed from the ruins of Hampton, which had been burned by retreating Confederates.

Hampton University rock can trace its roots to the work of Mary S. Peake of Norfolk which began in 1861 with outdoor classes taught under the landmark Emancipation Oak in the nearby area of Elizabeth City County adjacent to the old sea port of Hampton. The newly-issued Emancipation Proclamation was first read to a gathering under the historic tree there in 1863.

An 1899 class in mathematical geography

Beginnings after the War: teaching teachers

After the War, a normal school ("normal" meaning to establish standards or norms while educating teachers) was formalized in 1868, with former Union Brigadier General Samuel C. Armstrong (1839-1893) as its first principal. The new school was established on the grounds of a former plantation named "Little Scotland" which had a view of the great harbor of Hampton Roads. It was legally chartered in 1870 as a land grant school, and was first known as "Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute."

Typical of traditionally Indian, Mulatto and Black colleges and universities, Hampton received much of its financial support in the years following the Civil War from church groups and former officers and soldiers of the Union Army. One of the many Civil War veterans who gave substantial sums to the school was General William Jackson Palmer, a Union cavalry commander from Philadelphia, who later built the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and founded Colorado Springs, Colorado. As the Civil War began in 1861, although his Quaker upbringing made Palmer abhor violence, his passion to see the slaves free compelled him to enter the war. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in 1894. (The current Palmer Hall on the campus is named in his honor.)

Students in an 1899 bricklaying class

Unlike the wealthy Palmer, Sam Armstrong was the son of a missionary to the Sandwich Islands (which later became the U.S. state of Hawaii). However, he also had dreams and aspirations for the betterment of the newly freed slaves. He patterned his new school in the manner of his father, who had overseen the teaching of reading, writing and arithmetic to the Polynesians. He also felt it was important to add the skills necessary to be self-supporting in the impoverished South. Under his guidance, a Hampton-style education became well-known as an education that combined cultural uplift with moral and manual training, or as Armstrong was fond of saying, an education that encompassed "the head, the heart, and the hands."

At the close of its first decade, the school reported a total admission in the ten years of 927 students, with 277 graduates, all but 17 of whom had become teachers. Many of them had bought land and established themselves in homes; many were farming as well as teaching; some had gone into business. Only a very small proportion had failed to do well. By another 10 years, there had been over 600 graduates. In 1888, of the 537 of them alive, three-fourths were teaching, and about half as many undergraduates were also currently teaching. It was estimated that 15,000 children in community schools were being taught by Hampton's students and alumni that year.

Booker T. Washington: spreading the educational work

Among Hampton's earliest students was Booker T. Washington, who arrived from West Virginia in 1872 at the age of 16. He worked his way through Hampton, and then went on to attend Wayland Seminary in Washington D.C. After graduation there, he returned to Hampton and became a teacher. Upon recommendation of Sam Armstrong to founder Lewis Adams and others, in 1881, Washington was sent to Alabama at age 25 to head another new normal school. This new Institution eventually became Tuskegee University. Embracing much of Armstrong's philosophy, Washington built Tuskegee into a substantial school and became nationally famous as an educator, orator, and fund-raiser as well. He started work which ultimately caused over 5,000 small community schools to be built for the betterment of black education in the South.

Further information: Booker T. Washington

Name changes, expansion, community

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute became simply Hampton Institute in 1930 and gained university status in 1984. Originally located in Elizabeth City County, it was long-located in the town of Phoebus, which was incorporated in 1900. Phoebus and Elizabeth City County were consolidated with the neighboring City of Hampton to form a much larger independent city in 1952. The City of Hampton uses the Emanicipation Oak on its official seal. From 1960 to 1970, noted diplomat and educator Jerome H. Holland was president of the Hampton Institute.

Native Americans

In 1878, Hampton established a formal education program for Native Americans, beginning the Institute's lasting commitment to serving a multicultural population. Recent initiatives have proven unsuccessful in renewing the interest of indigenous people in Hampton. (Virginia has two reservations, and a growing number of recognized Native American tribes). There are a number of grave markers in the university cemetery that display the diversity of tribes that attended the school.

Criticism

Hampton has been known to heavily discipline students who question the administration

Athletics

File:HamptonU.jpg

Hampton's colors are blue and white, and their nickname is the "The Pirates". Hampton sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I-AA for football) in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in which they joined in 1995 after leaving the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Since joining, Hampton has won MEAC titles in many sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's track, and men's and women's tennis. In 2001, the Hampton basketball team won its first NCAA Tournament game, when they beat Iowa State 58-57, in one of the largest upsets of all time.

They won their conference in football in 1997, shared one in 1998 and 2004, and one the conference out right in 2005, 2006. They have also been dominant in tennis winning the MEAC in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007 for the men and 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004 for the women. They've also won the men's conference basketball tournament in 2001, 2002, 2006 and the women's tournament in 2000, 2003, 2004.

Famous Alumni

• Booker T. Washington
• Alberta Williams King,mother of Martin Luther King jr.
• Angela Burt-Murray, Editor-in-Chief of Essence Magazine
• Michael K. Fauntroy, Professor and political commentator
• Edwin S. Shirley,III, Managing Director Fairview Capital Partners Private equity firm
• Wanda Sykes, comedienne
• Spencer Christian, weatherman for Good Morning America
• Charles Phillips, President, Oracle Corporation
• Rick Mahorn, former NBA Player Detroit Pistons
• Jerome Mathis, NFL Football Player, Houston Texans
• Justin Durant, NFL Football Player, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Nicole Bailey-Williams, author
• Hon. Vanessa Gilmore, US District Court (S.D. Texas)
• Hon. Theodore Theopolis Jones II, New York Supreme Court, Brooklyn
• Douglas Palmer, Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey
• Adeeb Shabazz, Metaphysical Author, and former Libertarian Party of Georgia official
• Darrilyn Vassar Jackson, 2000 Maryland Social Worker of the Year
• Sadhana Jackson, 2005 AMA Scholar, Pediatrician
• Sammy L. Brunson Jr.
• William Skinner Jr.
• Kimberly Oliver, 2006 National Teacher of the Year
• Zachary Hines, II, Actor, Philosopher
• Brett Pulley, Author
• Robin Reed-Humes, Hollywood Casting Director
• Yasmin Shiraz, Author
• Allyson Kay Duncan, 4th Cir US Circuit Court Judge
• Emil Wilbekin, Former Editor-In-Chief Vibe Magazine
• Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Dr. Dianne Boardley Suber, President of Saint Augustine's College
• Christopher C. Moore, President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Pi Upsilon Lambda Chapter
• Harry Smith, part-owner Treyball Development (Real Estate Investment Firm), Los Angeles, CA also brother of actor Will Smith
• Tyren B. Sutton, Theologian & National Vice President of Mu Omicron Gamma, Inc.
• Rev. Marvin A. Moss , Senior Pastor Cascade United Methodist Church Atlanta,GA
• Anthony Stiles II, Spokesman for the Important Persons Group
• Eric O. Smith II, Scholar/Politician

Trivia

• The school is informally called simply "Hampton" or "HU" by many students, faculty and supporters.

• Rivals include Norfolk State University, located across Hampton Roads in downtown Norfolk, and Howard University, in Washington, D.C.

• Hampton and Howard constantly claim the title, "Real HU". (Hampton Institute became "Hampton University" in 1984.)

• Students informally refer to the school as "HIU", or Hampton Institute and University. The "Institute" refers to the undergraduate program, while the "University" is the graduate program.

• The campus, known for its beauty, contains several buildings that contribute to its National Historic Landmark district: Virginia-Cleveland Hall (freshman female dormitory, as well as home to the school's two cafeterias), Wigwam building (home to administrative offices), Academy Building (administrative offices), Memorial Chapel (religious services) and the President's Mansion House. The Emancipation Oak was cited by the National Geographic Society as one of the 10 great trees in the world.

• In 1995, Hampton joined the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, commonly referred to as the MEAC. Since joining, Hampton has won dozens of MEAC titles in football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's track, and men's and women's tennis. In March 2001, the men's basketball team made NCAA Tournament history, becoming only the fourth 15th-seeded team to defeat a 2nd-seeded team. Hampton defeated Iowa State, 58-57 on March 15, but lost to Georgetown two days later. The win still makes SportsCenter's Top 10 NCAA tournament upsets.

External links

• Official website
• Information on Hampton University from Virginia African Heritage Program