Last updated: September 6, 2023
Place
President's House, Bluefield State University
Photograph by Jim Nelson, courtesy of the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office
Quick Facts
Location:
Rock St., Bluefield, West Virginia
Significance:
Social History
Designation:
Listed in the National Register - Reference number 99001400
MANAGED BY:
The President's House (also known as Hatter Hall) on the campus of Bluefield State University in Bluefield, West Virginia was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The property is significant for being associated with the growth of Bluefield State University, an HBCU, and the broader efforts toward higher education for Black students in southern West Virginia.
The Bluefield Colored Institute was founded in 1895 as an institution of higher education for the children of Black coal miners. At the time of the school's founding, racially integrated public education was outlawed by the West Virginia constitution. The school began with forty pupils, overseen by Principal Hamilton Hatter. Hatter oversaw many of the school's first construction projects, including the school's administrative building and two dorms.
Under Hatter's successor, Robert P. Sims, the school developed into a highly successful, well-established institution. In 1909, the school became a teacher's college, and enrollment reached 600 by the 1920s. Some of the campus's major expansions during Sim's tenure included the construction of Hatter Hall, also known as the President's House, in 1930. The building served as the president's home, as well as the location for freshman receptions, formal dinners, and graduation ceremonies. Shortly after the home was built, the school's educational curriculum was accredited by the state and the school was renamed the Bluefield State Teacher's College.
By the mid-point of the 20th century, the school was a culturally significant HBCU. Prominent Black figures from the day, including boxer Joe Louis, poet Langston Hughes, and musician Duke Ellington visited campus and performed for students. However, after the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision outlawed segregated public education in 1954, the school's demographics began to shift. By the mid-1960s, the school was roughly half Black, half white in terms of student population. The school's first white president was announced in 1966, and many Black students feared that the school was intentionallly being transformed into a majority-white commuter school. Tensions came to a head when a bomb was detonated in the school's gymnasium in 1968 and the school's dorms were closed shortly afterward, pushing out much of the Black student population. Today, while the school is still technically an HBCU, its student population is predominantly white.
The Bluefield Colored Institute was founded in 1895 as an institution of higher education for the children of Black coal miners. At the time of the school's founding, racially integrated public education was outlawed by the West Virginia constitution. The school began with forty pupils, overseen by Principal Hamilton Hatter. Hatter oversaw many of the school's first construction projects, including the school's administrative building and two dorms.
Under Hatter's successor, Robert P. Sims, the school developed into a highly successful, well-established institution. In 1909, the school became a teacher's college, and enrollment reached 600 by the 1920s. Some of the campus's major expansions during Sim's tenure included the construction of Hatter Hall, also known as the President's House, in 1930. The building served as the president's home, as well as the location for freshman receptions, formal dinners, and graduation ceremonies. Shortly after the home was built, the school's educational curriculum was accredited by the state and the school was renamed the Bluefield State Teacher's College.
By the mid-point of the 20th century, the school was a culturally significant HBCU. Prominent Black figures from the day, including boxer Joe Louis, poet Langston Hughes, and musician Duke Ellington visited campus and performed for students. However, after the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision outlawed segregated public education in 1954, the school's demographics began to shift. By the mid-1960s, the school was roughly half Black, half white in terms of student population. The school's first white president was announced in 1966, and many Black students feared that the school was intentionallly being transformed into a majority-white commuter school. Tensions came to a head when a bomb was detonated in the school's gymnasium in 1968 and the school's dorms were closed shortly afterward, pushing out much of the Black student population. Today, while the school is still technically an HBCU, its student population is predominantly white.