the West Virginia Legislature appropriated $10,000 for the purchase of a farm on which to construct a building for the institution. A committee empowered by the legislature purchased along the Kanawha River, near the community of Farm, which was once part of the estate of Samuel I. Cabell and his wife Mary Barnes Cabell (a former slave). The institute's first building was completed in April 1892 and received by the school's Board of Regents on April 20. Campbell formally opened the institute on April 26, 1892. The institute commenced an experimental term on May 3, 1892, with 20 students. The original curriculum consisted of the equivalent of a high school education, and included agriculture, horticulture, mechanical arts, domestic science, vocational training, and teacher preparation. Campbell asked Booker T. Washington to nominate a Tuskegee Institute graduate to fill the position of the institute's Superintendent of Mechanics. Washington requested that Tuskegee graduate James M. Canty write a letter to Campbell. Canty was hired by Campbell as the Superintendent of Mechanics, and he arrived in Institute on January 3, 1893. By June 1893, the faculty consisted of Campbell, serving as principal and professor of mathematics; Byrd Prillerman, serving as professor of English; Canty, serving as professor of mechanics; and Campbell's wife, Mary Lewis Champ-Campbell, serving as instructor in music, painting, and drawing. In 1893, Campbell was awarded an honorary Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Shaw University. As the institute's principal, Campbell provided guidance to West Virginia's African-American coal miners in assisting their children in acquiring an education. Campbell resigned in 1894, and was succeeded by John H. Hill. Throughout his tenure at the institute, Campbell resided in Fleming Hall. West Virginia Teachers' Association Campbell and other West Virginia African-American educators established the West Virginia Teachers' Association in 1891 to encourage interest in their work and cooperation throughout the state's African-American teaching corps. The association aimed "to elevate the character and advance the interest of the profession of teaching, and to promote the cause of popular education in West Virginia". Campbell spoke at the association's second annual meeting in Parkersburg in 1892. At the association's third annual meeting in Parkersburg in 1893, Campbell was named president of the association. However, he was absent when the association's fourth annual meeting was held in Montgomery in 1894. Writing career From an early age, Campbell exhibited a talent for writing poetry and stories. Early in his writing