buried on the campus; some descendants continue to live nearby. Early history The school was established as the West Virginia Colored Institute in 1891 under the second Morrill Act, which provided for land-grant institutions for Black students in the 17 states that had segregated schools. The school opened its doors in May 1892 and had an enrollment of over 40 students. The faculty consisted of President James Edwin Campbell, Byrd Prillerman, and T.C. Friend. The curriculum consisted of courses in agriculture, horticulture, mechanical arts, and domestic science. Teacher education ("normal") courses were added in 1893. Military education became an integral part of the school, and in 1899 West Virginia's legislature passed a bill to admit up to 60 cadets. In 1909, African-American educator and statesman Booker T. Washington recommended his friend, Byrd Prillerman, as the institution's president. Washington had been instrumental in locating the institution in the Kanawha Valley, visited the campus often, and spoke at its first commencement. During Prillerman's 10-year administration, the school established itself as the center of black intellectual life in the state. From 1891 through 1915, the school provided the equivalent of a high school education, with vocational training and teacher preparation for segregated public schools. In 1915, it became the West Virginia Collegiate Institute and began to offer college degrees. In 1919, John Warren Davis became president of the institute. A Morehouse graduate, Davis recruited highly qualified faculty and focused on curriculum development. He persuaded noted historian Carter G. Woodson to assist him as academic dean. In 1927, the school was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, making it the first of 17 original black land-grant schools to be certified by a regional association and one of only four black colleges to gain such status. It also became the first public college in West Virginia to be accredited by North Central. In 1929, the name was changed to West Virginia State College. With an enrollment of 1,000 students, the college contained divisions of Applied Arts and Sciences; Languages, Literature and Fine Arts; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; and Social Sciences and Philosophy. In 1939, West Virginia State College became the first of six historically black colleges to be authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Authority to establish an aviation program. Benefiting from the presence of the Wertz Field airport adjacent to campus, the program prepared many African-American pilots for the U.S. Army