Anderson House Museum, Fort Valley State University

The museum's collections include Victorian furnishings from the early 19th century that were bequeathed from a former slave owner to a former slave. The home also preserves and shares the history of the historic high school and industrial training school that formed the basis of the institution that grew into a university.  

Fort Valley State University began as Fort Valley High and Industrial School. The high school was granted charter to establish a public school for children in 1895. Over the period of three decades, the school grew into a secondary school aimed at offering African American students a general and industrial style of education. By 1932 the school was renamed the Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School. Seven years later in 1939, the school merged with an Agricultural College of Forsyth, and became the one of the first African American colleges. Today, Fort Valley State University has nearly 3,000 students and ninety-four percent of those students are African American.