History
Compton Community College was established in 1927 as a component of the Compton Union High School District. In 1933 the campus was devastated by a major earthquake which struck the region, leaving two buildings standing. Fortunately, no one on campus was killed.
In the 1940s several thousand Compton College students entered the armed forces and during World War II the campus housed a military unit and a defense plant.
In 1950 voters approved a bond issue separating the college from the high school district. The new college campus was then constructed at the college's present site, 1111 East Artesia Boulevard. Classes began on the new campus in the Fall of 1953.
In the 1960s the composition of the student body changed dramatically from predominantly Caucasian to overwhelmingly African-American.
In 1970 the Board of Trustees appointed the institution's first African-American President/Superintendent, Dr. Abel B. Sykes, Jr. Highlights during his 14-year administration included the construction of the first two new campus buildings since 1952: the Jane Astredo Allied Health Building and the Abel B. Sykes, Jr. Child Development Center (named after him in 1995).
The 1980s was a period of reduced funding and partial retrenchment for the institution, but by the early 1990s the college had once again stabilized. The second major demographic shift occurred in the 1990s making the campus population 50% African-American and 50% Hispanic.
In 1996 the Board appointed Ulis C. Williams as Interim President/Superintendent and in January, 1997 made this appointment permanent. During President Williams' tenure the district has received full re-accreditation, the Ralph C. Dills Vocational-Technology Center and the Math-Sciences building were constructed, and student enrollment approached 10,000.
Read more about this topic: El Camino College Compton Center
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty and death of public opinion.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)