Alcorn State University
comprehensive land-grant institution located northwest of Lorman, Mississippi in rural Claiborne County
Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant research university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. Named after former Mississippi governor James L. Alcorn, it was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Alcorn State's athletic teams are known as the Braves and compete in NCAA Division I. All teams compete as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
History
Alcorn State University was the first black land grant college in the country. Mississippi's Reconstructionist legislature, dominated by Republicans sympathetic to the cause of educating the formerly enslaved, established the college on the site of Oakland College, a college that had gone defunct due to the Civil War. Alcorn University started with what is recognized as three historic buildings.
United States Senator Hiram R. Revels resigned his seat when he accepted the position as Alcorn's first president. The state legislature provided $50,000 in cash for ten successive years for the establishment and overall operations of the college. The state also granted Alcorn three-fifths of the proceeds from the sale of 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) of land scrip for agricultural or land-grant colleges under federal legislation.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Alcorn State University” is comprehensive land-grant institution located northwest of Lorman, Mississippi in rural Claiborne County. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Alcorn, State and University, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “comprehensive land-grant institution located northwest of Lorman, Mississippi in rural Claiborne County” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1805243. VIAF identifies the subject as 156552430. The Library of Congress control number is n79016315. Authority coordinates are 31.877, -91.141. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1871.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Alcorn State University”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Alcorn State University primary sources, Alcorn State University archive and Alcorn research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alcorn State University”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Alcorn State University” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.