Wiley College
Marshall, Harrison County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Established March 17, 1873; Chartered 1882) Founded by Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Church (North) as a co-educational institution dedicated to the education of Black men and women freed by the Civil war. Named for Bishop Isaac W. Wiley (1825-84), Black religious leader. Original campus was 2 miles south, relocated here in 1878. In early years offered courses only in academic preparation and vocational fields; first college-level course offered, 1885; first graduate, Henry B. Pemberton, 1888. In 1893 Wiley College received its first Black president, the Rev. Isaiah Scott, former slave preacher. During the first half of the 20th century, under the administration of Dr. Matthew W. Dogan, the school experienced an era of growth and maturity; rated "A" by the Association of Negro Colleges in 1924. In his 46 years as president, Dr. Dogan initiated a combined technical and academic program, offering the students scholastic experience and practical training. Known as the "Wiley Method," it was widely copied among Black colleges. Wiley College presidents: F.C. Moore (1873-76); W.J. Davis (1876-85); N.D. Clifford (1885-87); George Whitaker (1887-91); P.A. Pool (1891-93); Isaiah Scott (1893-96); M.W. Dogan (1896-1942); E.C. McLeod (1942-47); J.S. Scott (1947-58); T.W. Cole (1958-71); Robert E. Hayes (1971- ). (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1873 by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Church, Wiley College opened its doors to Black men and women freed by the Civil War, one of the earliest such institutions west of the Mississippi. Named for Bishop Isaac W. Wiley, the school moved to Marshall in 1878 and graduated its first college student, Henry B. Pemberton, in 1888; in 1893 the Rev. Isaiah Scott, a former slave preacher, became its first Black president. Under Dr. Matthew W. Dogan's 46-year tenure, Wiley earned a top rating and pioneered the influential combined academic-technical curriculum known as the "Wiley Method," widely copied among Black colleges.
Why it matters
Wiley stands among the pioneering historically Black colleges that turned emancipation into opportunity, building Black leadership and shaping models of education adopted across the South.
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Related people
- · Isaac W. Wiley
- · Isaiah Scott
- · Matthew W. Dogan
- · Henry B. Pemberton
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Matthew W. Dogan, Sr.
Marshall, TX
Born in 1863 to enslaved parents who purchased their family's freedom, Matthew W. Dogan was valedictorian at Rust College before becoming a mathematician and, in 1896, the second African American president of Wiley College. Over nearly five decades he built thirteen campus buildings, doubled enrollment, secured a Carnegie Library erected by student labor, and raised a substantial endowment. He shielded students and faculty in a segregated community until his 1942 retirement, and is buried in Wiley Cemetery.
Melvin B. Tolson
Marshall, TX
Poet and professor Melvin B. Tolson taught at Wiley College from 1924 to 1947, where he built an award-winning debate team that packed venues and famously bested national champion USC in 1935. His students included future civil rights leaders James L. Farmer, Jr., Fred Lewis, and Heman Sweatt. A celebrated writer whose newspaper column chronicled African American life, Tolson later taught at Langston University and even served as the Oklahoma town's mayor.
James Leonard Farmer, Sr.
Marshall, TX
James Leonard Farmer, Sr. earned a doctorate from Boston University in 1918 and became a Methodist minister and scholar of philosophy and religion, teaching at Wiley College and other historically Black institutions across the South. A popular speaker and author, he pastored churches in Marshall, Texarkana, and Galveston. His son, James Farmer, Jr., grew up to found the Congress of Racial Equality and lead the civil rights movement.
H. B. Pemberton
Marshall, TX
Henry Bertram Pemberton, born in 1867, became the first college graduate of Wiley College in Marshall and devoted his life to Black education in a segregated Texas. Named principal of the Colored School in 1894 and given permission but no money for a new building, he borrowed on his own credit to raise a two-story schoolhouse that his community repaid. Over decades he expanded Marshall's Black schools, recruited qualified teachers, and helped charter the local NAACP; in 1940 thousands of petitioners had the high school he founded renamed in his honor.