Grambling State University

Overview

Grambling State University is a public historically Black university in Grambling, Louisiana, home to the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail, tracing its founding to the desire of African-American farmers in rural north Louisiana to educate their community. In 1896 the North Louisiana Colored Agriculture Relief Association, led by Lafayette Richmond, formed to organize a school; after opening a small school, the association asked Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee Institute for help, and Washington sent Charles P. Adams to organize an industrial school — Adams became its founder and first president. Under his leadership, the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School opened on November 1, 1901; four years later it moved to its present location and was renamed the North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial School, and by 1928 it had become a state junior college offering two-year certificates and diplomas, later renamed the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute.