Seneca Institute / Seneca Junior College

Seneca Institute (1899-1939) began as one three-room building. The Institute educated primary and secondary African American children until 1930 when it became Seneca Junior College and offered post-secondary education to African Americans from across the country. Its first principal Dr. John Jacob Starks (d. 1944), served the Institute 1899-1912 before becoming president of Morris College and later, Benedict College. The college remained open through the Depression before finally closing due to financial hardship in 1939. Four of the five original buildings have been torn down, but the original Oberlin Faith Cabin Library still stands at the site.