History
Chamberlain-Hunt Academy is the continuation of Oakland College, founded in 1830.
The founder of Oakland College was the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Chamberlain, a native of the Susquehanna region of central Pennsylvania. The college did not survive the Civil War, but the Presbyterian Church in Mississippi was keen to re-establish a college preparatory school and Port Gibson was chosen in 1879 to be the home of "Chamberlain-Hunt Academy."
By 1995, the school was in dire straits financially. Less than eighty students were enrolled. In 1996, members of the First Presbyterian Church in Jackson MS (a PCA congregation) and the French Camp Academy organization purchased from a local bank the historic buildings, over two hundred acres of land, and the educational equipment.
CHA has been on its current premises, after moving from its first location next door to the First Presbyterian Church in Port Gibson, since 1900. It became a full military school in 1911. It went into a decline in the 1990s, when enrollment fell to just 22 cadets but in 1998 it was saved from closure by being taken over by French Camp Academy, another Christian (but not military) boarding school in located in northern Mississippi. However, CHA continues to operate autonomously. In the 1960s CHA was a segregation academy, but now has about 40% ethnic minority enrollment.
On its 125th birthday in 2004, CHA held a Founders' Day Convocation at nearby Alcorn State University (whose premises are on the Academy's original pre-1900 site) with special guest, US Senator Trent Lott.
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