Storer College was founded in 1867 in Harpers Ferry to educate freed slaves after the Civil War. Supported by the Freedmen’s Bureau and donor John Storer, it was one of the first integrated and coeducational schools for African Americans in West Virginia. Frederick Douglass served on its board and spoke on campus. Over 7,000 students from many places studied subjects like reading, religion, job skills, and later, college-level courses. Graduates became teachers, doctors, ministers, and more. Civil rights leaders such as W. E. B. DuBois visited, and the college hosted the Niagara Movement in 1906. Despite early successes, Storer struggled financially and closed in 1955. Its records and buildings are now part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.