Stephen F. Austin State University

Wiley College

711 Wiley Ave., Marshall

Sandborn Maps:

Architectural Survey

Historical Background

Wiley College was founded in 1873 by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the MEthodist church as an institution for the education of AFrican American men and women freed by the Civil War. In 1893, Isaiah S. Scott, a former slave pereacher, became the first African American to preside over the college. M.W. Dogan, Wiley president in the 1940s, initiated a program that offered students scholastic studies and practical training. This program, known as the "Wiley Method," was widely used by African-American colleges. The Dogan Hall on campus was named in his honor. (Images of America: Marshall, Joyce Williamson, Pat Smith-JGasperson, Lucile Estell, and the Harrison County Historical Museum).

In 2007, the movie "The Great Debators," starring Denzel Washington, was filmed on the Wiley College campus, which told the story of three students who participated in a major colliagete debate event. Although the movie portrays a woman on the team, there were actually only three men: Hobart Jarrett, Henry Heights, and J.Leonard Farmer Jr.

Wiley College Photos