Storer College: A School Born from Reconstruction
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Transcript
After the Civil War, Harpers Ferry became connected with a different American struggle: expanding education after slavery.
Storer College was founded in 1867 with support from John Storer and the Freewill Baptist tradition. It educated African American students during the long era of segregation.
The college became an important institution in the history of Black education. W.E.B. Du Bois spoke there in 1906 during the founding period of the Niagara Movement.
Storer closed in 1955, but its buildings and history remain central to understanding Harpers Ferry beyond the famous raid.
The town was not only a place where a war was anticipated. It was also a place where people built new institutions after that war.