This exhibit consists of scanned photos from the archives of Storer College preserved in the West Virginia University Libraries West Virginia and Regional History Center. Reverse sides of the photos with signatures or text are also included. To browse through the slides, choose one of the options below:

    On October 2, 1867 Storer College in Harpers Ferry admitted its first students. Storer was the first African-American college in West Virginia and was established to educate former slaves. Storer College existed until 1955 and had two black men serve as the president.

     Frederick Douglass, a freed slave, abolitionists and author, delivered a speech at Storer College on the subject of John Brown in 1881. Some of John Brown’s captors were said to have been present during the speech. In 1906, Storer College was the site of the Niagara Movement headed by Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, which later became the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.