Charles P. Adams

Marker Name

Charles P. Adams

Marker Dedicated

November 11, 2002, during “A Day of Remembrance” ceremonies held in Brusly and Port Allen

Marker Sponsor

Town of Brusly

Marker Location

Town of Brusly Memorial Plaza; intersection of LA Hwy 1 and St. Francis Street; Brusly, LA 70719

Marker Text

July 21, 1873 – June 27, 1969
Charles Philip Adams, Brusly native and Tuskegee Institute graduate, followed Booker T. Washington’s advice to travel to North Louisiana to develop a school. On November 1, 1901, Adams founded and opened the school in Lincoln Parish which in 1974 became known as Grambling State University. Adams maintained his residence at the school until his death, only returning to Brusly for visits.

Background

Adams founded the school that is now known as Grambling State University in 1901, the same year that he left Brusly for North Louisiana. This information was uncovered during the planning of the Brusly Centennial, which was held in October 2001. Grambling Alumna, Carolyn Brown, was the speaker during the dedication ceremony.

The Charles P. Adams House – Nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, 2004:
The Charles P. Adams House, located just south of the Grambling State University campus, is the only surviving building directly associated with the institution’s founder and first president. Adams lived in the home, built for his retirement, from 1936 until his death in 1961. The educator founded his first school at the urging of his mentor, Booker T. Washington, in 1901. His second school, which he shepherded through incarnations as an agricultural and industrial school, a parish training school and a normal (teach training) school, eventually evolved into the full-fledged, state-supported university which Grambling is today. (Preservation in Print, Volume 32, Number 1, February 2005, editors Patricia L. Duncan and Donna Fricker, Division of Historic Preservation)

For more information on Brusly, read Brusly 1901 – 2001 A Place to Call Home; by Pamela Folse, Editor. Available at the West Baton Rouge Parish Library or for purchase at the Town of Brusly City Hall, (225) 749-2909.