Welcome to Bluefield State University! BSU is one of only two HBCUs (Historically Black College or University) in the state of West Virginia. Located in Bluefield, WV, BSU was originally founded as Bluefield Colored Institute in 1895 as a school for the high-school aged children of black coal miners in the area. The school began with just four acres of land and 40 students. As you can see by looking around campus, the Bluefield Colored Institute was given one of the worst plots of land in the Bluefield area for their school. Despite that fact and it's lack of green space on campus, the now Bluefield State University is a beautiful campus! At the time the West Virginia Constitution prohibited racial integration in public schools and there was no college-level education for African Americans until 1891.
Bluefield State Teachers College, as the institution was renamed in 1931, was at the center of the rich cultural world of African-American society. Although the rough and tumble bituminous coalfields were far from the urban and sophisticated east coast, the college was heavily in the explosion of black American culture known as the "Harlem Renaissance," bringing Langston Hughes to read poetry, John Hope Franklin to teach Negro History, and even heavyweight champion Joe Louis to box exhibitions in Arter Gymnasium. Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Dizzie Gillespie, and Count Basie entertained the active Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. Bluefield State's "Big Blue" football team twice won national Negro College Athletic Association championships in the late 1920s.
The name "Bluefield State College" was adopted in 1943. After a half-century Bluefield State was awarded full academic accreditation in 1947, rewarding the institution's measured progress. By September 1954, the state-supported colleges in West Virginia were integrated. By the 1960s, the college had a comprehensive four-year program of teacher education, arts and sciences, and engineering technology. During the late 1960s, black students protested that the state was transforming the school from a traditional black college to a white commuter college. One of the allegations made was that black faculty and staff were being fired and replaced by less qualified white personnel. On November 21, 1968, the racial tensions culminated in the bombing of the gymnasium. Ironically, the administration responded by immediately closing the dormitories, which housed a significant percentage of the college's out-of-state black student population, hastening the transition to a predominantly white college.
In the fall of 2021 on-campus housing made a return to the college and on July 1, 2022 Bluefield State College became Bluefield State University. BSU now offers Masters programs as well. BSU now has around 1,500 students between it's Bluefield and Beckley campuses and as of 2022, the campus is around 25% POC. Efforts are being made to restore this HBCU to its former glory and give it a thriving campus life once again.
Requirements to log this virtual geocache:
1. Which of the school's historic names is on the sign located at GZ? Please message me the answer--do not put it in your log or it will be deleted.
2. Please take a picture with yourself (or your GPS) in it with the beautiful town of Bluefield in the background and post it in your cache log!
Congrats to WV5_0 for the FTF!
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.