1. Hampton University
City: Hampton, VA
Category: Education
Telephone: (757) 727-5000
Address: 100 East Queen St.
Description: This private, historically black school was founded in 1868 to educate freed blacks. The Emancipation Oak tree is located on the campus. It was under this giant tree that children of former slaves were taught and here that blacks gathered to hear the first Southern reading of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Booker T. Washington was educated at Hampton. The school became Hampton Institute in 1930 and a university in 1984. Washington is just one of a long line of famous graduates, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother Alberta Williams King and Emmy Award–winning comedian Wanda Sykes. President Obama delivered the Commencement Address on May 9, 2010.
2. Thomas Nelson Community College
City: Hampton, VA
Category: Education
Telephone: (757) 825-2800
Address: 99 Thomas Nelson Dr.
Description: The Peninsula’s community college campus is located just off I-64. It offers more than 40 fields of study with associate degrees and professional certification. There are eight academic buildings here. It’s the fourth largest community college in the Virginia system, with an enrollment of more than 15,000 students. There is also a campus in Williamsburg and a satellite site in Newport News.