130 Timeline
Fort Valley State University 130-Year Timeline

November 6, 1895
18 men petition the Superior Court of Houston County for a charter to legalize Fort Valley High and Industrial School. Led by John Wesley Davison, a former child slave.

January 6, 1896
FVHIS is incorporated by the Superior Court of Houston County. Davison becomes the 1st principal.

1902
Austin Thomas Walden graduates and becomes Georgia’s first Black judge.

1902
William M. Hubbard founded Forsyth Normal and Industrial School.

1903-1904
Gabriel B. Miller served as acting principal.

1904
Henry Hunt, Jr. becomes FVHIS’s 2nd principal.

June 1913
FVHI operates its first summer school for teachers, becoming the first institution in Georgia to institute a session for Negro teachers.

1916
Otis Samuel O’Neal founded the 'Ham and Egg Show.'

1916
Jeanes Hall was remodeled and Royal C. Peabody provided funds.

1918
FVHIS agrees to control by the American Church Institute for Negroes of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which raised funding for the institution.

1931
Hubbard’s School changed to State Teachers and Agriculture College.

1932
The name changed to The Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School with an increase in students.

May 1934
Florence Johnson Hunt Infirmary was finished and dedicated.

October 5, 1938
Principal Hunt’s funeral services were held in the Fort Valley school auditorium and entombed on campus.

June 1939
FVHI becomes Fort Valley State College with the merger of the Teachers and Agricultural College at Forsyth.

1939
Horace Mann Bond becomes the 1st president of Fort Valley State College.

1941
Harriet Black was the first Black person to earn a degree from the newly formed college.

1945
Cornelius V. Troup becomes the 2nd president of Fort Valley State College.

1949
Georgia legislature designated FVSC as the state land-grant institution for Blacks.

1952
Catherine Hardy wins Olympic Gold in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

1967
Lottie M. Lyons Student Center and Cozy L. Ellison Building is complete.

1969
Wilson-Robert Building and Josephine Lewis Hall Dormitory is complete.

1972
FVSC's 1st regionally televised football game appeared on ABC television.

1973
Cleveland W. Pettigrew, a graduate of FVSC, becomes president.

1976
The Memorial Towers were dedicated.

1982
Walter W. Sullivan served as acting president upon the death of Pettigrew.

2001
Kofi Lomotey becomes president.

2002
The first annual African World Film Festival was held.

2002
The Lady Wildcats captured the SIAC title for the third year.

2003
Warner Robins, GA campus is opened.

2004
FVSU wins Trumpet Award for 'Higher Education Institution of the Year.'

2006
Larry Rivers becomes president.

2007
The $44 million Wildcat Commons student apartments and residential complex opened.

2009
Dedication of Henry Alexander Hunt and Florence Johnson Hunt Memorial Statues at Wildcat Commons.

2010
FVSU had its highest level of spring enrollment at 3,783.
2011
A donation of $1.5 million was presented on behalf of President Obama.

2013
Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith was appointed as the 9th President.

2014
Fort Valley State University signed an articulation agreement with Georgia Military College.

2014-2016
FVSU is listed as the nation’s top producer of African American students in math-related majors.

2018
FVSU named the top public HBCU in Georgia.

2020
FVSU celebrates its 125th anniversary.

2022
Georgia Board of Nursing approval to start the program.

August 2023
FVSU began accepting applications for its BSN program, making FVSU the second HBCU in Georgia to have a nursing program.

April 2024
Men’s Volleyball was the first HBCU to compete in the NCAA Division 1 Championship for men’s volleyball.

2024
FVSU was ranked as the highest-ranked regional university in Georgia for social mobility by U.S. News and World Report.

2025
CFA Scholars ranked in the top six to pitch to Experian, the national consumer credit company.

2025
FVSU celebrates its 130 years of 'Unapologetic Excellence.'