Oakland Memorial Chapel

	Oakland Memorial Chapel
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Landmark
	Mississippi Landmark
	Main façade of the chapel, 1972
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Location	Alcorn State University campus, Claiborne County, Mississippi
Coordinates	Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Built	1838
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.	74001057
USMS No.	021-ALC-0003-NHL-ML
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 27, 1974
Designated NHL	May 11, 1976
Designated USMS	September 26, 1985

Oakland Memorial Chapel is a historic church and academic building on the campus of Alcorn State University in rural southwestern Claiborne County, Mississippi. Built in 1838 as part of Oakland College, it is one of the oldest surviving buildings at Alcorn State, which took over that defunct school's campus after the American Civil War. Alcorn State was the first land grant university established specifically for the education of African Americans. The chapel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and a Mississippi Landmark in 1985.^[1]^[3]^[4]

Description and history

The Oakland Memorial Chapel occupies a prominent position on the campus of Alcorn State University, on the southwest side of ASU Drive, one of the rural campus' circulation roads. It is a three-story brick building with a gabled roof. Its ground floor functions as a raised basement, with a colonnade of brick piers supporting a six-column Greek temple portico. The columns are of the Tuscan order, and support an entablature and full gabled pediment. A two-stage square wood-frame tower rises above the roof ridge, with an elaborate second stage featuring fluted Doric columns, and an entablature with trighlyphs, metopes, and mutules. It is crowned by a low balustrade.^[4]

Oakland College was founded in 1828 by Reverend Jeremiah Chamberlain as part of a Presbyterian mission to educate the white children of the region. In 1851 Chamberlain, an abolitionist, was assassinated by a supporter of slavery, and the school was closed during the American Civil War. It failed to recover after the war, and closed again soon after reopening. Its assets were sold to the state in 1871. That same year the state established Alcorn State, as the first land grant university specifically for the education of African Americans. It is also believed to be the first state-supported school in the nation to graduate a black woman.^[4]

At the time the state acquired the campus, three buildings were standing from the Oakland College period. Of these, the chapel is the best preserved and architecturally the most sophisticated.^[4]

The chapel also served as the home gymnasium for the Alcorn State Braves basketball team.

References

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v t e Alcorn State University
Schools	Agriculture and Applied Sciences Arts and Sciences Business Education and Psychology Nursing
Historic district	Administration Building Harmon Hall Lanier Hall Oakland College Belles Lettres Dormitory No. 2 Dormitory No. 3 Oakland Chapel President's House
Sports	Baseball Basketball Men's Women's Football Southwestern Athletic Conference Venues Casem-Spinks Stadium Davey Whitney Complex Foster Baseball Field at McGowan Stadium Oakland Chapel
Student life	University Press of Mississippi WPRL
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v t e Alcorn State Braves basketball
Venues	Oakland Chapel (?–1975) Davey Whitney Complex (1975–present)
Culture & lore	Howell Trophy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia American Legation, Morocco
Lists of specific structure types	Amusement rides Jails and prisons University and college buildings
Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund
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Oakland Memorial Chapel

Description and history

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Oakland Memorial Chapel

Description and history

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