The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.2, page 24, 1874-75, U. of Illinois Press

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The BOOKER T. WASHINGTON Papers HISTORY The Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute stands on the east shore of Hampton Creek, a little below the town of Hampton, and not far from Fortress Monroe, on an estate of one hundred and twenty acres, once known as ''Little Scotland,'' and during the war, known as ''Camp Hamilton.'' The first slaves brought to America were landed a few miles off; and the earliest English civilization on this continent was established at Hampton. In this neighborhood, during the war, a great number of ''contrabands'' were collected, and the first school for freedmen was established among them. The beauty and healthfulness of the spot, its accessibility, by water and railroad communication, as well to Northern markets as to the region of the Chesapeake Bay, and to the whole of Virginia and the Southern Atlantic States, with the density of the colored population in its vicinity, marked it out as a suitable centre for a great educational work. The American Missionary Associations having purchased the ''Little Scotland'' estate in the summer of 1867, fitted up the necessary buildings; and in April, 1868, the school was opened with twenty scholars, on a manual labor basis. Through liberal grants from the Freedmen's Bureau, and donations from Northern friends, a large and durable school-house in which three hundred students can recite, has been erected, the farm has been supplied with buildings, stock and tools, and an industrial department for the manufacture of clothing has been built up. A boarding department is in operation with one hundred and seventy student boarders; and a printing-office has been established in which the various branches of the printing trade are taught, and the Southern Workman is published. In June, 1870, the Institute received a charter from the General Assembly, creating a corporation, with power to choose their own successors, and to hold property without taxation. They now hold and control the entire property of the school by deed from the American Missionary Association. In March, 1872, the General Assembly passed an act, giving it onethird of the Agricultural College land grant of Virginia; its share was one hundred thousand acres, which was sold on the fist of May, 1872, 24