A resolution passed in 1885 by the North Carolina Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church established a Normal and Industrial School to educate high school students. Its first session began in 1886, and the North Carolina Legislature chartered the school in 1887. The charter was amended in 1897, changing the name to Kittrell Institute and adding training of ministers, and again in 1889 to accommodate a post-secondary program. In 1892, the AMEC General Conference changed its Educational District to add Maryland and the District of Columbia to support Kittrell along with Virginia and North Carolina as the 2nd Episcopal District. High school seniors from Farmville, Virginia, received full scholarships to attend Kittrell when that system shut down in 1959-60 to fight desegregation of public schools. The last high school class graduated in 1965, and Kittrell College closed in 1975. Its school colors were blue and gold, and its mascot was the Bulldog.