Samuel C. Armstrong

Samuel Chapman Armstrong (January 30, 1839-May 11, 1893) was an American educator and a commissioned Union officer in the American Civil War.

The son of missionaries, Armstrong was born in Maui, Hawaii. In 1860, at age 21, he left Hawaii for the United States and attended Williams College in Massachusetts. Two years later, he volunteered to serve in the Union Army, and was appointed a captain. He recruited a company near Troy, New York, leading the group at the Battle of Gettysburg. Armstrong subsequently rose through the ranks to the office of colonel, being assigned to the 9th Regiment, United States Colored Troops. His experiences with the regiment aroused his interest in the welfare of black Americans.

At the end of the war, leaving the military with the rank of brigadier general, Armstrong joined the Freedmen's Bureau. With the help of the American Missionary Association , he established the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute - now known as Hampton University - in Hampton, Virginia in 1868. The Institute was meant to be a place where black students could receive post-secondary education and training in useful skills while paying for their education through manual labor.

Armstrong died at the Hampton Institute on May 11, 1893.

Armstrong High School in Richmond, Virginia was named after Samuel C. Armstrong in 1909.