Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) - Hampton, VA, USA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

(Coordinates are for the plaque designating Hampton Institute a National Historic Landmark, so designated in 1974. Plaque is located next to Emancipation Oak.)

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. The Emancipation Oak was cited by the National Geographic Society as one of the 10 great trees in the world.

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute became simply Hampton Institute in 1930 and became Hampton University in 1984.

Street address: Hampton University Hampton, VA 23668 County / Borough / Parish: N/A (Hampton is an independent city) Year listed: 1969 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Educational institution with a distinguished history dating from the Civil War era. Periods of significance: 1850-1874, 1875-1899, 1900-1924 Historic function: Education, College Current function: Education, College Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   03/15/2014 McGregors visited it