Bowie State University continues to make a significant impact in the state of Maryland. The university evolved from a normal school teaching the elements of education to the state’s Black citizens denied access to state-funded schools immediately following the abolition of slavery. Today, it is a comprehensive liberal arts university that offers a holistic, nurturing learning experience for students and prepares them to make positive contributions to the community.
The Emancipation Proclamation declared free the slaves in Confederate-held lands, including 10 states not then under Union control.
The new state constitution simultaneously emancipates Maryland's 87,000 slaves and establishes the state's first free public school system.
The Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of Colored People is formed to establish schools for the state’s black citizens.
Under the direction of Leonard Waterman, the founding of the first “free school” for colored children is established.
School #1, the precursor to Bowie State University, offers courses in the elements of education. The normal school opens in 1866.
The U.S. government forms the Freedmen’s Bureau, which provides aid to newly emancipated slaves in the Reconstruction era after the Civil War ends.
The Civil War ends when the Confederates sign the Union negotiators’ surrender terms.
Not only did Hartwell serve as principal, but he was also designated as the sole faculty member of the Normal School.
The institution was founded as the Centenary Biblical Institute by the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The school relocates to the renovated Friends Meeting House at Courtland and Saratoga streets in Baltimore (Source: Drs. Simmons unpublished manuscript).
