virginia state university

Virginia State University, located in Ettrick, Virginia (near Petersburg, in the Richmond area), was founded on March 6, 1882. It was the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans. The name used by the historically black university's athletic teams is the "Mighty Trojans."

History

Following the American Civil War, William Mahone (1826-1895) of Petersburg, Virginia was the driving force in the linkage of Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, Southside Railroad and the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad in 1870 to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line extending from Norfolk to Bristol. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended in 1881 when the A,M & O was sold at auction, to form the Norfolk and Western Railway. Mahone, a former Confederate general best known as the hero of the Battle of the Crater, later led Virginia's Readjuster Party and was a major proponent of public schools for the education of the former slaves and free blacks. He to become a Senator in the Congress of the United States from Virginia, arranged for the proceeds of the A,M & O sale to help founded a school for teachers near Petersburg. In 1882, the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute at Petersburg was forerunner of Virginia State College, which expanded to become Virginia State University. The school's two year branch in Norfolk, Virginia, founded in 1935, became Norfolk State College, and is now known as Norfolk State University.

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