Looking at the history behind Langston University, Oklahoma's only HBCU Share Updated: 7:05 PM CST Feb 22, 2021 Share Updated: 7:05 PM CST Feb 22, 2021 Hide Transcript Show Transcript MILES NORTH OF OKLAHOMA CITY IN RURAL LOGAN COUNTY SITS A COLLEGE CAMPUS SURROUNDED BY PASTURES AND FARMLAND, BUT THERE’S MORE TO IT THAN MEETS THE EYE LANGSTON UNIVERSITY IS OKLAHOMA’S FIRST AND ONLY HBCU WITH NEARLY 3,000 STUDENTS ACROSS ITS THREE CAMPUSES IN OKLAHOMA AND WITH 40 UNDERGRAD AND GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS, AND WE’RE NAMED AFTER JOHN MERCER LANGSTON. A LOT OF PEOPLE ASK IF WE WERE NAMED AFTE LANGSTON HUGHES. NO LANGSTON HUGHES. THIS IS LANGSTON HUGHES’S UNCLE THE DR. LYNN SIMPSON IS THE DEAN AND DIRECTOR OF LIBRARIES AT LANGSTON UNIVERSITY OUR 1921 YEARBOOK. THESE ARE SOME OF THE ORIGINAL BUILDINGS AND THIS WAS THE FIRST BUILDING AT LANGSTON UNIVERSITY THIS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. SHE SAYS WHAT YOU SEE HERE TODAY IS THE CULMINATION OF HARD WORK IN THE DREAMS OF FORMER SLAVES AND THEIR CHILDREN TELL ME ABOUT LINKS UNIVERSITY. WOULD ALL START IT’S AN INTERESTING STORY TO THINK ABOUT THE BLACKTOWN MOVEMENT IN THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA. LANGSTON IS A PART OF THAT MOVEMENT LANGSTON UNIVERSITY CAME ABOUT BECAUSE THE PEOPLE IN THE TOWN OF LANGSTON WHO CAME HERE, YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE TIME PERIOD IT WAS PRE-STATEHOOD. THEY WERE EITHER FORMER SLAVES OR ONE GENERATION FROM BEING FORMER SLAVES. THEY CAME TO THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, BECAUSE, OKLAHOMA AT THE GREAT PROSPECT OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS BEING ABLE TO OWN PROPERTY, BUT SHE SAYS OWNING PROPERTY WASN’T ENOUGH BUT THOSE WHO SETTLED IN LANGSTON WANTED MORE FOR THEIR CHILDREN IN EDUCATION AND IN 1892 LANGSTON CITIZENS WENT BEFORE THE OKLAHOMA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL IN COLLEGE COMMISSON PETITIONING FOR LANGSTON TO HAVE A COLLEGE THEIR CHILDREN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO GO TO THE WHITE UNIVERSITY’S COLLEGES IN THE STATE. AND SO THEY SAID, WE HAVE TO DO TO MAKE IT SO THAT OUR CHILDREN HAVE A PLACE TO GO THEIR EFFORTS WOULD PAY OFF A FEW YEARS LATER WHEN THE GOVERNOR OF THE OKLAHOMA TERRITORY PROPOSED A REFORM BILL ESTABLISHING THE UNIVERSITY. IT WAS FOUNDED AS A LAND-GRANT COLLEGE THROUGH THE MORAL A OF 1890 AND OFFICIALLY ESTABLISHED THROUGH HOUSE BILL 151, MARCH 12TH, 1897 NAMED T COLORED AGRICULTURAL IN NORMAL UNIVERSITY, BUT THE STATE WOULDN’T MAKE IT EASY. ONE ROADBLOCK WAS A REQUIREMENT THAT CITIZENS HAD TO RAISE THE MONEY TO BUY THE LAND WHERE THE UNIVERSITY WOULD BE BUT THEY SOLD BAKED GOODS LIKE PIES AND CAKES. THEY HAD TO WORK WITH EACH OTHER AND SAY, OKAY. I’LL GIVE THIS MUCH OF MY PROPERTY OR THAT MUCH OF MY PROPERTY AND WITHIN A YEAR THEY MANAGED TO BUY THE LAND IN THE SCHOOL OPEN IN SEPTEMBER OF 1898 STARTING OUT WITH ABOUT 41 STUDENTS OVER TIME. THE UNIVERSITY HAS GONE THROUGH SOME NAME CHANGES AND ADAPTED WITH THE TIMES TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR THE WORK. COURSE SOMETHING THOSE SETTLERS IN ONE OF OKLAHOMA’S EARLIEST AND REMAINING BLACK TOWNS ENVISIONED OVER A CENTURY AGO SINCE THEN LANGSTON ALUMNI HAVE GONE ON TO BECOME CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS STATE LAWMAKERS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES AND MUCH MORE. LANGSTON HAS ALSO BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A TOP 100 SCHOOL FOR NURSING THE FIRST INSTITUTION IN OKLAHOMA TO OFFER AN ACCREDITED DOCTOR OF PHYSICAL THERAPY PROGRAM AND RANKING NUMBER 3. AMONG H