In 1890, the Board of Trustees of the Centenary Biblical Institute of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Baltimore City renamed the institute "Morgan College," in honor of Reverend Lyttleton F. Morgan. Reverend Morgan, member and former president of the board, had long been associated with the institution. His financial support had allowed the institute to expand its curriculum to include college-level academics in addition to the college preparatory, normal (teacher training), and theological studies already offered. The name change and certain amendments to the charter were approved in accordance with the Laws of 1890, ch. 326.
In 1934, Donald Murray, a young African-American denied entrance into the University of Maryland School of Law on the basis of his race, filed suit in Baltimore City Court. He won both the original suit and the university's appeal to the Court of Appeals. In its opinion, the appellate court found that the state university could not reject students on the basis of race if there was no equivalent public institution available to them. Thus, Maryland found itself "confronted ... with the present necessity of abandoning its policy of segregation, or of establishing a state institution for colored persons in order to furnish them with educational facilities equivalent to that furnished to white persons." After lengthy conferences with the Morgan College Board of Trustees, and numerous studies by state commissions, the state decided that the best option was to purchase Morgan College. In 1939, the sale was approved and Morgan College became "Morgan State College" (Laws of 1939, ch. 331).
From the description of Agency history record, 1890-1939. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122506209
