Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

Main article: Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy 19th century Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College had its origin in several land grants made by the United States government in 1806, 1811, and 1827 for use as a seminary of learning. It was founded as a military academy and is still today steeped in military tradition, giving rise to the school's nickname "The Ole War Skule". In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana near Pineville in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana . Modeled initially after Virginia Military Institute , the institution opened with five professors and nineteen cadets on January 2, 1860, with Major, later Colonel, William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent. The Old LSU Site , the school's original location, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [ 11 ] On January 26, 1861, when Louisiana became the fifth state to secede from the Union, Sherman resigned his position after only a year as Superintendent to return north and eventually resume his service in the Union Army . The school closed on June 30, 1861, after the start of the American Civil War . Downtown Baton Rouge Campus (1886–1925) Historical Marker During the war, the university reopened briefly in April 1863 but was closed once again during the Union Army's Red River Campaign . The losses sustained by the institution during the Union occupation were heavy, and after 1863 the seminary remained closed for the remainder of the Civil War . Following the surrender of the Confederates at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, General Sherman donated two cannons to the institution. These cannons had been captured from Confederate forces after the close of the war and had been used during the initial firing upon Fort Sumter in April 1861. The cannons are still displayed in front of LSU's Military Science/Aerospace Studies Building.

[ 12 ] The seminary officially reopened its doors on October 2, 1865, only to be burned October 15, 1869. On November 1, 1869, the institution resumed its exercises in Baton Rouge, where it has since remained. In 1870, the name of the institution was officially changed to Louisiana State University. [ 13 ] Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College was established by an act of the legislature, approved April 7, 1874, to carry out the United States Morrill Act of 1862 , granting lands for this purpose. It temporarily opened in New Orleans, June 1, 1874, where it remained until it merged with Louisiana State University in 1877. This prompted the final name change for the university to the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. [ 14 ]

Louisiana State University Memorial Tower A panorama of the LSU campus in 1909 In 1905, LSU admitted its first female student, R. O. Davis. She was admitted into a program to pursue a master's degree. The following year, 1906, LSU admitted sixteen female students to its freshman class as part of an experimental program. Before this, LSU's student body was all-male. In 1907, LSU's first female graduate, Martha McC. Read, was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. [ 15 ] After this two year experimental program, the university fully opened its doors to female applicants in 1908, and thus coeducation was born at LSU. [ 16 ] On April 30, 1926, the present LSU campus was formally dedicated, following the school's history at the federal garrison grounds (now the site of the state capitol) where it had been since 1886. Before this, LSU used the quarters of the Institute for the Deaf, Mute, and Blind. Land for the present campus was purchased in 1918, construction started in 1922, and the move began in 1925; however, the move was not completed until 1932. The campus was originally designed for 3000 students but was cut back due to budget problems. After years of enrollment fluctuation, student numbers began a steady increase, new programs were added, curricula and faculty expanded, and a true state university emerged. [ 13 ] LSU was hit by scandal in 1939 when James Monroe Smith , appointed by Huey Long as president of LSU, was charged with embezzling a half-million dollars. In the ensuing investigation, at least twenty state officials were indicted. Two committed suicide as the scandal enveloped Governor Richard W. Leche , who received a 10-year federal prison sentence as a result of a kickback scheme. [ 17 ] Paul M. Hebert , Dean of LSU's law school at the time, then assumed interim presidency in Smith's place.

During World War II , LSU was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. [ 18 ] In 1969, mandatory ROTC for freshmen and sophomores was abolished; however, LSU continues to maintain Air Force and Army ROTC. In 1978, LSU was named a sea-grant college, the 13th university in the nation to be so designated. In 1992, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the LSU Honors College . [ 19 ]