Hampton University Hampton University is a historically black and Native American university located in Hampton , Virginia , United States . It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen . History . The campus looking south across the harbor of Hampton Roads was founded on the grounds of " Little Scotland " , a former plantation in Elizabeth City County not far from Fortress Monroe and the Grand Contraband Camp that gathered nearby . These facilities represented freedom to former slaves , who sought refuge with Union forces in the first year of the war . The American Missionary Association ( AMA ) responded in 1861 to the former slaves ' need for education by hiring its first mulatto teacher , Mary Smith Peake , who had secretly been teaching slaves and free blacks in the area despite the state ' s prohibition in law . She first taught for the AMA on September 17 , 1861 and was said to gather her pupils under a large oak . After it was the site in 1863 of the first reading in the South of the Emancipation Proclamation , it was called the Emancipation Oak . The tree , a symbol of the university and the city , is part of the National Historic Landmark District at Hampton University . The Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School , later called the Hampton Institute , was founded in 1868 after the war by the biracial leadership of the AMA , who were chiefly Congregational and Presbyterian ministers . It was first led by former Union General Samuel Chapman Armstrong . Among the school ' s famous alumni is Dr . Booker T . Washington , who became an educator and later founded Tuskeegee Institute , another college supported by the AMA . The President Abraham Lincoln ' s Emancipation Proclamation was read to local freedmen under the same historic tree , which is still located on the campus today . It serves as a symbol for the modern city of Hampton . Civil War . During the American Civil War ( 1861 – 1865 ) , Union - held Fortress Monroe in southeastern Virginia at the mouth of Hampton Roads became a gathering point and safe haven of sorts for fugitive slave s . The commander , General Benjamin F . Butler , determined they were " contraband of War , to protect them from being returned to slaveholders , who clamored to reclaim them . As numerous individuals sought freedom behind Union lines , the Army arranged the construction of the Grand Contraband Camp nearby from materials reclaimed from the ruins of Hampton , which had been burned by retreating Confederates . This area was later called " Slabtown . " Hampton University can trace its roots to the work of Mary S . Peake , which began in 1861 with outdoor classes which she taught under the landmark Emancipation Oak in the nearby area of Elizabeth City County . The newly issued Emancipation Proclamation was first read to a gathering under the historic tree there in 1863 . After the War : teaching teachers . After the War , a normal school ( " normal " meaning to establish standards or " norms " while educating teachers ) was formalized in 1868 , with former Union brevet Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong ( 1839 – 1893 ) as its first principal . The new school was established on the grounds of a former plantation named " Little Scotland " , which had a view of Hampton Roads . The original school buildings fronted the Hampton River . Legally charter ed in 1870 as a land grant school , it was first known as " Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute . " Typical of historically black colleges , Hampton received much of its financial support in the years following the Civil War from the American Missionary Association ( whose black and white leaders represented the Congregational and Presbyterian churches ) , other church groups and former officers and soldiers of the Union Army . One of the many Civil War veterans who gave substantial sums to the school was General William Jackson Palmer , a Union cavalry commander from Philadelphia . He later built the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , and founded Colorado Springs , Colorado . As the Civil War began in 1861 , although his Quaker upbringing made Palmer abhor violence , his passion to see the slave s freed compelled him to enter the war . He was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in 1894 . ( The current Palmer Hall on the campus is named in his honor . ) At the close of its first decade , the school reported a total admission in the ten years of 927 students , with 277 graduates , all but 17 of whom had become teachers . Many of them had bought land and established themselves in homes ; many were farming as well as teaching ; some had gone into business . Only a very small proportion failed to do well . By another 10 years , there had been over 600 graduates . In 1888 , of the 537 still alive , three - fourths were teaching , and about half as many undergraduates were also teaching . It was estimated that 15 , 000 children in community schools were being taught by Hampton ' s students and alumni that year . Booker T . Washington : spreading the educational work . Among Hampton ' s earliest students was Booker T . Washington , who arrived from West Virginia in 1872 at the age of 16 . He worked his way through Hampton , and then went on to attend Wayland Seminary in Washington D . C . After graduation , he returned to Hampton and became a teacher . Upon recommendation of Sam Armstrong to founder Lewis Adams and others , in 1881 , Washington was sent to Alabama at age 25 to head another new normal school . This new Institution eventually became Tuskegee University . Embracing much of Armstrong ' s philosophy , Washington built Tuskegee into a substantial school and became nationally famous as an educator , orator , and fund - raiser as well . He collaborated with the philanthropist Julius Rosenwald in the early 20th century to create a model for rural black schools - Rosenwald established a fund that matched monies raised by communities to build more than 5 , 000 schools for rural black children , mostly in the South . Native Americans . In 1878 , Hampton established a formal education program for Native Americans . In 1875 at the end of the American Indian Wars , the United States Army sent seventy - two warriors from the Cheyenne , Kiowa , Comanche and Caddo Nations , to imprisonment and exile in St . Augustine , Florida . Essentially they were considered hostages to persuade their peoples in the West to keep peace . Richard Henry Pratt supervised them at Fort Marion and began to arrange for their education in the English language and American culture . Numerous visitors to St . Augustine from the North became interested in their cases and volunteered as teachers . They also provided them with art supplies , and some of the works by the men are held by the Smithsonian Institution . At the end of the warriors ' incarceration , Pratt convinced seventeen of the younger men to enroll at Hampton Institute for a fuller education . ( Later Pratt founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School based on the success of some of the men with education and assimilation ) . Name changes , expansion , community . Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute became simply Hampton Institute in 1930 . With the addition of departments and graduate programs , it was accredited as Hampton University in 1984 . Originally located in Elizabeth City County , it was long - located in the Town of Phoebus , incorporated in 1900 . Phoebus and Elizabeth City County were consolidated with the neighboring City of Hampton to form a much larger independent city in 1952 . The City of Hampton uses the Emancipation Oak on its official seal . From 1960 to 1970 , noted diplomat and educator Jerome H . Holland was president of the Hampton Institute . The school is informally called simply " Hampton " or " HU " by many students , faculty and supporters . Hampton University and Howard University constantly claim the title , " The Real HU " . Both schools enjoy the friendly rivalry . Campus . The campus contains several buildings that contribute to its National Historic Landmark district : Virginia - Cleveland Hall ( freshman female dormitory , as well as home to the school ' s two cafeterias ) , Wigwam building ( home to administrative offices ) , Academy Building ( administrative offices ) , Memorial Chapel ( religious services ) and the President ' s Mansion House . The original High School on the campus became Phenix Hall when Hampton City Public Schools opened a new Phenix High School in 1959 . Phenix Hall was damaged in a minor fire on June 12 , 2008 . The Emancipation Oak was cited by the National Geographic Society as one of the 10 great trees in the world . National Historic Landmark District . A portion of the campus along the Hampton River , including many of the older buildings , is a U . S . National Historic Landmark District . Buildings included are : In addition , Cleveland Hall , Ogden , and the Administration building are also included in the district . The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 , and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974 . Student activities . Athletics . In 1995 , Hampton joined the Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference , commonly referred to as the MEAC . Since joining , Hampton has won dozens of MEAC titles in football , men ' s and women ' s basketball , men ' s and women ' s track , and men ' s and women ' s tennis . In March 2001 , the men ' s basketball team made NCAA Tournament history , becoming only the fourth 15th - seeded team to defeat a 2nd - seeded team . Hampton defeated Iowa State , 58 – 57 on March 15 , but lost to Georgetown two days later . The win still makes SportsCenter ' s Top 10 NCAA tournament upsets . Rivals include Norfolk State University , located across Hampton Roads in downtown Norfolk , and Howard University in Washington , D . C . Hampton ' s colors are blue and white , and their nickname is " The Pirates " . Hampton sports teams participate in NCAA Division I ( I FCS for football ) in the Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference ( MEAC ) in which they joined in 1995 after leaving the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association . Since joining , Hampton has won MEAC titles in many sports , including football , men ' s and women ' s basketball , men ' s and women ' s track , and men ' s and women ' s tennis . In 2001 , the Hampton basketball team won its first NCAA Tournament game , when they beat Iowa State 58 – 57 , in one of the largest upset s of all time . They returned to the tournament a year later , as well as in 2006 and 2011 . The " Lady Pirates " basketball team has seen great success as well , and made trips to the NCAA tournament in 2000 , 2003 , 2004 , 2010 , 2011 , and 2012 . In 1988 , as a Division II school , the Lady Pirates won the NCAA Women ' s Division II Basketball Championship , defeating West Texas State . In 2011 , as a number - 13 seed , the Lady Pirates nearly upset Kentucky , but fell in overtime , 66 - 62 . They won their conference in football in 1997 , shared one in 1998 and 2004 , and won the conference out right in 2005 , 2006 . From 2004 to 2007 , the university ' s football team saw much success . The team won 3 MEAC Championships , 3 SBN - Black College National Championships , and was ranked in the Division I FCS top 25 poll each year . The Pirates also sent five players to the NFL Combine in 2007 , the most out of any FCS subdivision school for that year . They have also been dominant in tennis winning the MEAC from 1996 – 1999 , 2001 - 2003 & 2007 for the men and 1998 , 2002 - 2004 for the women . They ' ve also won the men ' s conference basketball tournament in 2001 , 2002 , 2006 , and 2011 . Pirate athletics are supported by a plethora of groups , including " The Force " Marching Band . The marching band has appeared at several notable performances , including the Barack Obama Presidential Inauguration parade ( Washington , DC ) . " The Force " was chosen out of a large pool of applicants to participate in the parade as the representative for the state of Virginia .