Charles P. Adams (college president)

Charles Phillip Adams (July 22, 1873 - June 27, 1961) was an American academic administrator who served a 35-year term as the founding president of the school that later became Grambling State University.

Born in Brusly, Louisiana, Adams grew up poor as the son of former slaves. He made some money through bartering and through farming his own land with his uncles, and this gave him enough money to attend the Tuskegee Institute. At Tuskegee, he was one of the best students of Booker T. Washington. When the North Louisiana Farmer's Relief Association inquired with Washington as to someone who could lead the founding of an industrial school similar to Tuskegee, Washington recommended Adams. Adams became president of the school, then known as the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School, in late 1901.[1]

The Charles P. Adams House, a 1936 cottage just off the Grambling State University campus, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its association with Adams.