The school was started in 1897. Tbe school was first known as the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University. Langston University was created because of the second Morrill Act in 1890. The law made states with land grant colleges (such as Oklahoma State University, then Oklahoma A&M) to either allow African-Americans in as students, or provide an alternative school for them to attend. This was required in order to receive federal money. Langston University is named for John Mercer Langston (1829-1897). He was a civil rights pioneer. He was the first African American member of Congress from Virginia. Langston started the Howard University Law School. He also served as American consul-general to Haiti.