1936 to 1952, managed this growth with patience and resourcefulness. Bluefield State Teachers College, as the institution was renamed in 1931, was at the center of the rich cultural world of African-American society. Although the rough and tumble bituminous coalfields were far from the urban and sophisticated east coast, Sims and Dickason managed to involve their college heavily in the explosion of black American culture known as the "Harlem Renaissance," bringing Langston Hughes to read poetry, John Hope Franklin to teach Negro History, and even heavyweight champion Joe Louis to box exhibitions in Arter Gymnasium. Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Dizzie Gillespie, and Count Basie entertained the active Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. Bluefield State's "Big Blue" football team twice won national Negro College Athletic Association championships in the late 1920s. A 1929 survey of the 702 alumni of Bluefield State demonstrated the college's wide-ranging influence. There were 326 school teachers, along with dozens of administrators, physicians, pharmacists, ministers, businessmen, and homemakers. The name "Bluefield State College" was adopted in 1943. After a half-century Bluefield State was awarded full academic accreditation in 1947, rewarding the institution's measured progress. By September 1954, the state-supported colleges in West Virginia were integrated. Three white students (James Ernest Watkins, Joseph Tice and Douglas Ralph Whittaker) in a total body of 354 enrolled at Bluefield State. By the 1960s, the college had a comprehensive four-year program of teacher education, arts and sciences, and engineering technology. Gradually a variety of two-year technical programs evolved in response to local needs. During the late 1960s, black students protested that the state was transforming the school from a traditional black college to a white commuter college. One of the allegations made was that black faculty and staff were being fired and replaced by less qualified white personnel. On November 21, 1968, the racial tensions culminated in the bombing of the gymnasium. A $5,000 reward was offered by Governor Hulett C. Smith. Ironically, the administration responded by immediately closing the dormitories, which housed a significant percentage of the college's out-of-state black student population, hastening the transition to a predominantly white college. The Alpha House and President's House, Bluefield State College (now named The "Hatter" House) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2003, the school's two-year programs, except for those in nursing and engineering technology, were separated out to form New River Community and Technical College. The institution's name