Storer College was a historically black college located in Harpers Ferry in Jefferson County, West Virginia. Established as a normal school to train black teachers, it operated from 1865 until 1955. Established after the American Civil War with the help of philanthropic Baptists from New England and, especially Maine, it lost state funding after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the United States Supreme Court that said segregated public schools were unconstitutional. The state decided to fund other facilities that could offer more education.The defunct college's former campus and buildings were acquired by the National Park Service, authorized in a 1962 appropriation, as part of what is now called the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. At the same time the NPS began to develop this facility for use as one of its four national training centers.HistoryStorer SchoolFounded as a one-room school for freedmen, Storer developed over the decades as a full-fledged degree-granting four-year college open to all races, creeds, and colors, and men and women. Former slaves came to Storer as they were eager to learn to read and write, to help them make their way in a new world of free labor. Some wanted to learn new skills and leave the agricultural fields where most had worked.
