Okalona College

Okalona Industrial School, Okalona, Mississippi, was founded in 1902 by Wallace A. Battle as a high school and junior college for African American students to prepare for vocations in manual work. In 1920 the Diocese of Mississippi took over the school to “develop it along church lines.” In 1921 it joined the American Church Institute for Negroes. It was later named Okalona College, but in 1965 the trustees had to close the school because of financial difficulties. The buildings and land were sold later and the proceeds went to the Okalona College Endowment Fund, which annually provides about $22,000 in educational assistance for African American students.