Old Main, which now serves as the primary administrative building for the university, was built on land known as Maple
Grove in what was then Virginia. John Laidley, a local lawyer, hosted the meeting which lead to the founding of the academy. He named the academy
after his friend, John Marshall, who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from January 1801 until July 1835.In 1838, the Virginia General Assembly officially chartered the academy, and the school that year began its
first full term. The academy was closed for several years during the Civil
War.In 1863 the western counties of Virginia officially formed the State of West Virginia, and in the legislature of West Virginia created the State Normal
School of Marshall College. The colleges today known as Concord
University, Shepherd University, Fairmont State University, Glenville State College, and West Liberty State College were all founded as branches
of the State Normal School and eventually spun off from Marshall. Southern West Virginia Community College also was once a Marshall branch.Forty-years later, in 1907, enrollment surpassed 1,000 students.In 1938, the college officially began granting Master's degrees in chemistry, education, history, political science,
psychology, and sociology. In
that year the school was acredited as a "university level institution" however the renaming of the school would remain a
contensious political issue for decades to come.In 1937, the college suffered through a devastating flooding by the Ohio River. The city of Huntington later built a floodwall to protect both the college
and downtown city businesses from future flooding.In 1960, John F. Kennedy
spoke at the college during his cross-country campaign for the presidency.In 1961, the state legislature finally created Marshall University. Governor W. W. Baron signed the legislation at the
university the day after it passed the legislature, on March 2, 1961. Interestingly, the
student newspaper, the Parthenon, prepared two frontpages for the day, depending on the outcome of the legislature's vote. The
renaming of the college had been biterly opposed by supporters of West Virginia University, who had blocked the measure for many years.In 1969, the university's athletic program, facing a number of scandals, fired both its
football and basketball coaches and was suspended from the Mid-American Conference and from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The university respectably rebuilt
its athletic program over the next several years, and in 1977, the university joined the
Southern Conference.In 1970, the entire football team and several community members were killed in an
airplane crash. They were returning, on November 14, after playing East Carolina University. In 1972, the university built and
named a new student union, the Memorial Student Center, in honor of the team. The plaza of the center has a fountain which is
does not flow from November 14 until the first day of spring football practice the following year. Also, all flags throughout
West Virginia fly at half-staff on the anniversary of the crash.In 1977 the university founded its School of Medicine, the first professional school and
the first doctoral program. Over the next 20 years the school would add doctoral programs in many fields.In 1997, the West Virginia Graduate College became the graduate college of Marshall University. Its
campus is located in South Charleston,
West Virginia.In 1998, the John Deaver Drinko Library opened on campus. The center includes a 24-hour
study center and a coffee shop, and has both wired and wireless networking throughout the building. John Deaver Drinko graduated
from the university in 1942.In 2002, Marshall became the first university to eliminate landline telephones from its
dormitory rooms. Most Marshall students who live in residence halls now receive their own mobile phones.