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 …
