University of Maryland Eastern Shore

University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". History The University of Maryland Eastern Shore has been known by a series of names reflective of its location, evolving role, and mission over a period spanning three centuries. It opened September 13, 1886, under the auspices of the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Benjamin and Portia Bird welcomed nine students that first day to a converted farmhouse on 16 acres. The school was at first envisioned as a preparatory school for the private Centenary Biblical Institute in Baltimore, which was affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1890 it changed its name to Morgan College to honor the first chairman of its board of trustees. (It is now the public Morgan State University). By the end of the first academic year, 37 students were enrolled in the Delaware Conference Academy in Princess Anne. Because of segregation in the state, African-American students could not enroll in the Maryland Agriculture College in College Park, which offered advanced instruction in farming techniques and related trades commonplace in the late 19th century. Congress enacted the Second Morrill Act of 1890, which required states to establish colleges for African-American students in order to continue to receive gain land-grant funds. The state of Maryland formalized a partnership with Morgan to underwrite "land-grant" education for African-Americans on Maryland's lower Eastern Shore.