Wiley College

Accreditation and protest mark Wiley's twentieth century. The Handbook of Texas says that in 1933 Wiley became the first historically Black college in Texas to receive an A rating from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, whose all-white membership told it not to consider itself a member. In March and April 1960, Wiley and Bishop College students staged what the Handbook calls the largest sit-in in Texas, lasting four days. A state Senate committee sent a representative to look for Communist influence and found none, and charges against the student marchers were dismissed.

What the plaque says

Wiley College (Established March 17, 1873; Chartered 1882) Founded by Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Church (North) as a co-educational institution dedicated to the education of Black men and women freed by the Civil war. Named for Bishop Isaac W. Wiley (1825-84), Black religious leader. Original campus was 2 miles south, relocated here in 1878. In early years offered courses only in academic preparation and vocational fields; first college-level course offered, 1885; first graduate, Henry B. Pemberton, 1888. In 1893 Wiley College received its first Black president, the Rev. Isaiah Scott, former slave preacher. During the first half of the 20th century, under the administration of Dr. Matthew W. Dogan, the school experienced an era of growth and maturity; rated "A" by the Association of Negro Colleges in 1924. In his 46 years as president, Dr. Dogan initiated a combined technical and academic program, offering the students scholastic experience and practical training. Known as the "Wiley Method," it was widely copied among Black colleges. Wiley College presidents: F.C. Moore (1873-76); W.J. Davis (1876-85); N.D. Clifford (1885-87); George Whitaker (1887-91); P.A. Pool (1891-93); Isaiah Scott (1893-96); M.W. Dogan (1896-1942); E.C. McLeod (1942-47); J.S. Scott (1947-58); T.W. Cole (1958-71); Robert E. Hayes (1971- ). (1973)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Starr Family Home State Historic Site — 0.4 mi
  Maplecroft, the 1871 Greek Revival house Frank Starr built in Marshall, with Ruth Starr Blake's glass and china, an 1880s kitchen restored in 2019 and a retirement home built for a formerly enslaved person.
• Harrison County Historical Museum — 0.7 mi
  Galleries in Marshall's 1901 courthouse that run from the Caddo to the present, with Wiley College, Lady Bird Johnson's inaugural gown and a military gallery across the square in Memorial City Hall.
• Texas and Pacific Railway Depot and Museum — 1.1 mi
  The only surviving building of the Texas and Pacific shops at Marshall, a 1912 Mission Revival depot saved from demolition in the 1990s, still an Amtrak stop, with a railway museum and a Mikado locomotive.
• Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge — 15 mi
  Wetlands and woods on part of a former ammunition plant, now a refuge for wood ducks, prothonotary warblers and alligator snapping turtles, with four easy trails and a free visitor center on a Ramsar lake.

More markers nearby

• Matthew W. Dogan, Sr. — steps away
• Melvin B. Tolson — steps away
• James Leonard Farmer, Sr. — steps away
• H. B. Pemberton — steps away