Kentucky State University

Timeline of KSU History

1886	State Normal School for Colored Persons formed John Henry Jackson named first president
1887	Recitation Hall (now Jackson Hall) completed
1897	Library consisted of 400 books and 650 pamphlets
1898	James Edward Givens named president Board of Trustees purchases 265 acres adjacent to original 29-acre campus
1890	Morrill Land Grant Act added departments of agriculture, mechanics and domestic economy
1900	James Shelton Hathaway named president 152 students enrolled
1902	Name changed to Kentucky Normal Industrial Institute Kentucky Legislature increased annual state support to $5,000 and allotted $15,000 for construction of a female dormitory
1903	111 female students, 89 male students from 45 of Kentucky’s then-119 counties
1907	John Henry Jackson began a second term as president
1908	State appropriated $40,000 for construction and improvements
1909	Hume Hall and original Trades Building added First athletic teams organized
1910	Jackson resigned, Albert Ernest Meyzeenk filled in, then Ernest E. Reed Hathaway started second term as president
1911	First summer session held
1912	Green Pinckney Russell named president Staff of 10, 300 students and $11,000 annual budget
1917	Enrollment reached 830, including students in the high school program
1920	Russell Memorial Hall built
1921	$7,500 received from Veteran’s Bureau for World War I veterans’ scholarships
1922	Legislature approved $42,000 for capital construction
1923	Francis Marion Wood named president
1924	G.P. Russell began his second term as president, earning $3,600 annually
1926	Name changed to Kentucky State Industrial College for Colored Persons Three female students died in a dorm fire
1928	$184,145.66 allocated for a new women’s dorm
1929	G.P. Russell resigned, James A. Bond served as interim president Rufus B. Atwood named president High school program phased out
1931	Bell Gymnasium completed at a cost of $32,000 Bachelor’s programs in agriculture and health and physical education were added Departments of English, Modern Languages, Home Economics, History and Government, Sociology and Economics and Natural Sciences and Mathematics added
1935	Atwood Hall (men’s dorm) completed
1936	Music Education program added
1938	Name changed to Kentucky State College for Negroes
1939	29 student scholarships awarded, totaling $2,485.75 Library contained 12,000 books and periodicals Mildred Chandler Hall (women’s dorm) completed
1940	E.E. Underwood Refectory, first student dining facility, completed
1949	McCullin Hall completed
1952	Name changed to Kentucky State College
1954	Rosenwald Laboratory School Building completed
1956	Accreditation received from the National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education
1957	Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the commencement speaker
1958	KSU became one of the first 14 black colleges to be granted full membership to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
1960	Fire destroyed Bell Gymnasium
1961	Agriculture department eliminated
1962	Carl McClellan Hill named president
1963	Board of Regents approved a $9 million expansion plan
1964	Enrollment reached 1,226 Combs and Hunter Halls completed (dorms)
1968	Carver Hall completed
1969	Athletic Complex built
1970	KSC had 1,600 students Fieldhouse, Shauntee Hall completed
1972	Name changed to Kentucky State University
1973	Jackson Hall added to National Register of Historic Places
1974	12 students were awarded the first Master’s of Public Administration degrees by KSU
1975	William A. Butts named president Federal Financial Aid allocation reached $1.2 million Pre-Law curriculum added
1977	Gov. Julian Carroll committed $10 million for improvements to KSU
1978	KSU received its first large, private grant from the W.K. Kellogg foundation, $406,000
1982	Raymond Burse named president
1983	Whitney Young College of Leadership Studies opened
1989	Mary Smith named interim president
1990	John T. Wolfe Jr. is president
1991	Mary Smith named president
1998	George W. Reid named president
2002	Dr. Paul Bibbins named short-term interim president
2003	William H. Turner named long-term interim president
2004	Dr. Mary Evans Sias named president