DELORES: The thing I would like people to know is when you get on the Storer College campus, that's when you see what Harpers Ferry's really like.

LAUREN: Storer college.

Established in 1867 by Freewill Baptists as a part of an effort to educate freedmen after the Civil War.

It was the only college opened to African Americans in West Virginia prior to 1891.

DELORES: Storer College is and will always be very important to me.

My first two sisters attended Storer College.

I knew that I would be going there too.

LAURITA: Seeing the campus...

It gives the vibe of a lot of smaller historically Black colleges.

LAUREN: Right.

LAURITA: Small campuses.

But it's nice to be able to come here.

LAUREN: Yeah, we're walking on history right now.

LAURITA: Yeah, to know that people were able to continue their education past... LAUREN: Right.

DELORES: The founder of Storer College is significant.

Civil War ended in 1865 and Storer College started 1867 which means there had to be people who were concerned about the education of Black people.

I was going to become a teacher, however in 1955, the year I graduated high school, the college closed.

LAURITA: Man, it makes me feel proud to be here because a lot of our family members were educated at Historically Black Colleges and Universities because they were not able to go to other schools.

LAUREN: Right and even going to an HBCU now in this generation, like, as I have gone to, it's still, like, such a cool experience to be here on one of the first HBCUs.

Should we go check out some of the buildings on campus?

LAURITA: Yup.

Let's do it.

LAUREN: Come on.

DELORES: These buildings represent the people who have helped to shape my life from my parents and my teachers who graduate from Storer College who talked to us all the time about what we wanted to be and how we could become it.

LAUREN: The battle we wage is not for ourselves alone but for all true Americans.

Wow.

LAURITA: You know, I know my dad would've been real excited to know that I came to this campus and I could've, would've loved talking to him about it and I'm sure he would've said, "You know I've already been there."

LAUREN: Yeah.

LAURITA: Because he knew so much about all the HBCUs in every state and you know, he would talk about what the land-grant colleges were.

And so to end here, it's pretty significant.

LAUREN: Right.

I feel his spirit with us.

LAURITA: Yeah.

LAUREN: I know he's here.

LAURITA: Yeah.

Wow.

Well, it's time for us to head home.

LAUREN: It's time to head on across the river to Maryland.

LAURITA: Let's do it.

You're driving, right?

LAUREN: I guess.

LAURITA: You're driving, right.

LAUREN: Okay.

Okay.

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