TITLE: SLAVES TO STUDENTS
MARCH 1878 AND CLASS BEGINS . . . AT LAST.
MARCH 11, 1878. NEAR HEMPSTEAD. AS TEXAS RISES FROM RECONSTRUCTION, THERE’S A PUSH FOR NEW COLLEGES FOR BLACK YOUTH.
TO START, THE STATE BUYS ALTA VISTA PLANTATION, THE HOME OF CONFEDERATE GENERAL JARED KIRBY. KIRBY’S WIFE RAN A BOARDING SCHOOL THERE, BUT BEFORE THE WAR IT WAS HOME TO OVER 400 SLAVES.
TODAY, EIGHT YOUNG BLACK MEN ENROLL IN THE ALTA VISTA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOR $130 TUITION. THEY ARE THE FIRST BLACKS TO ENTER A STATE COLLEGE IN TEXAS.
AFTER SEVERAL NAME CHANGES, THE SCHOOL BECAME PRAIRIE VIEW UNIVERSITY IN 1945. TODAY A PART OF TEXAS A&M, PRAIRIE VIEW ENROLLS OVER EIGHT THOUSAND.
FROM SLAVES TO STUDENTS, PRAIRIE VIEW UNIVERSITY BEGAN 131 YEARS AGO,
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