Bowie State University - History

History

Bowie State's history began in 1865 when the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of Colored People established the Baltimore Normal School in Baltimore, Maryland to train African American teachers. In 1908 the school was renamed Normal School No. 3 after the state Board of Education provided funding for and assumed control of the institution.

By 1914 the school had moved to Prince George's County, Maryland and become known as the Maryland Normal and Industrial School at Bowie. From 1911 until 1921, Don Speed Smith Goodloe served as principal and in 1914-15 built the Don S. S. Goodloe House, which was added in 1988 to the National Register of Historic Places. From 1921 until 1941, Dr. Leonidas S. James served as principal. It became the Maryland State Teachers College at Bowie in 1935 and Bowie State College in 1963.

In 1925, under the auspices of Dr. Leonidas S. James, a two-year professional curriculum in teacher education was created and was later expanded to a three-year program. A four-year program was created in 1935 for the training of elementary school teachers. With approval from the State Board of Education, the program was expanded in 1951 to include training for junior high school teachers. Ten years later, a teacher-training program for secondary education was established. In 1963, a liberal arts program was started.

On July 1, 1988, Bowie State achieved university status, reflecting the significant growth of the school's programs, enrollment, and service to the local area. On the same day, it also became one of the constituent institutions of the newly formed University System of Maryland.

Bowie State College was authorized to grant its first graduate degree, a Master of Education, in 1970. The school's first doctoral program was also in the field of education, with a Doctorate of Educational Leadership, earned by 16 students during the May 2005 commencement.

Around 8:00 PM on the night of Thursday, September 15, 2011, police discovered a student, 18-year-old Washington, D.C. native Dominique T. Frazier, bleeding in a hallway of a dorm after allegedly being stabbed by her female roommate as the result of an argument over the choice of music playing (authorities said) that turned into a fight that escalated further. The roommate fled but then turned herself in to county police and was taken into custody by state police; because she has not yet been formally charged with murder, her identity is not being revealed. The University administration released a statement mourning the loss. Once the roommate, Alexis D. Simpson, 19, was charged with one count of first-degree murder, her name was made known. Classes were canceled on the following day, Friday, September 16, 2011, and a gathering took place at noon ET that day.