It opened Sept. 13, 1886 under the auspices of the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Benjamin and Portia Bird welcomed nine students that first day to a converted farmhouse on 16 acres at what initially was envisioned to be a preparatory school for Centenary Biblical Institute in Baltimore, which in 1890 changed its name to Morgan College (now Morgan State University). By the end of the first academic year, 37 students were enrolled in the Delaware Conference Academy in Princess Anne.