Alcorn State University

Senator Hiram R. Revels resigned his seat when he accepted the position as Alcorn's first president. The state legislature provided $50,000 in cash for ten successive years for the establishment and overall operations of the college. The state also granted Alcorn three-fifths of the proceeds earned from the sale of 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) of land scrip for agricultural or land grant colleges under federal legislation. The land was sold for $188,928 with Alcorn receiving a share of $113,400. This money was to be used solely to support the agricultural and mechanical components of the college, which Congress wanted to develop nationally. From its beginning, Alcorn State University was a land-grant college. After a group of white Democrats known as Redeemers took over the legislature, Alcorn's appropriation was slashed by almost 90 percent, to $5,500 per year, and an all-white board of trustees was appointed.
In 1878, the name Alcorn University was changed to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. The university's …