Founded in 1886 near Camden in Wilcox County, Camden Academy grew from the efforts of William Henderson, a Scottish immigrant, former Union Army officer, and United Presbyterian who, after moving from New York, saw the plight of freed slaves and urged his children to begin schools for African-American children in the area. A deed dated December 5, 1896, transferred the academy's land from Henry H. Andrews to The Women's General Missionary Society of the United Presbyterian Church of North America in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Located on a hill known as Hangman's Hill, the school was one of the only Alabama mission schools near a town. Henry M. Green served as the first principal in 1886, followed by R.K. Smith from 1887 to 1905. Rev. William G. Wilson, an honor graduate of Lincoln University and seminary, succeeded him in 1905, served until 1910, returned in 1911, and remained until his death in 1935, strengthening the academic program from 10th grade to 12th grade and leading to the first graduating class in 1930. After Wilson's death, A.C. Peoples led the school from 1935 to 1960, a period in which it reached new heights in academics and athletics and became one of the first African-American schools to gain SACS accreditation. J.E. Hobbs, the last principal, served from 1960 to 1974. Former student Mabel Walker competed in the women's 100 meters at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and students and faculty took part in the Civil Rights Movement through marches and demonstrations while the school's religious character remained intact under campus pastors James Reese and Thomas L. Threadgill. In 1954, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., accompanied by Minister Ralph David Abernathy, spoke at the high school commencement exercises, and he returned in 1965 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The school's 79-year legacy on Hangman's Hill became a remarkable chapter in the education of African-American students in Wilcox County.