Welcome Virginia Union University as the D.J's Music Site HBCU Campaign Fund's August 2015 HBCU of the Month Supported Institution.

Founded in 1865 by The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) shorty after Union troops took control of Richmond, Virginia, at the end of the American Civil War. VUU was founded to give newly emancipated slaves an opportunity for education and advancement. The University is the result of the merger of four institutions: Richmond Theological Seminary, Wayland Seminary, Hartshorn Memorial College, and Storer College.

Separate branches of the National Theological Institute were set up in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia, with classes beginning in 1867. In Washington, the school became known as Wayland Seminary, named in commemoration of Dr. Francis Wayland, former president of Brown University and a leader in the anti-slavery struggle. The first and only president was Dr. George Mellen Prentiss King, who administered for thirty years (1867-1897). Famous students there included Dr. Booker T. Washington and Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr.

Richmond Theological Seminary held classes in Richmond, Virginia at Lumpkin's Jail, a former holding cell for runaway slaves. During the same time, Wayland Seminary was founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society in Washington, D.C. Two year later in 1867, Storer College was founded in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and in 1883, Hartshorn Memorial College opened its doors in Richmond as the first college for African American women.

After three decades of operating independently, Richmond Theological Seminary and Wayland Seminary merged on February 11, 1899 to form Virginia Union University. Later, in 1932 and 1964, respectively, Hartshorn Memorial College and Storer College became part of the Union.