Welcome Harris-Stowe University as the D.J's Music Site HBCU Campaign Fund's October 2015 HBCU of the Month Supported Institution.

Founded in 1857 by the St. Louis Public Schools as a normal school and thus became the first public teacher education institution west of the Mississippi River and the 12th such Institution in the United States. Harris-Stowe State University was a normal school established for white students only by the Public School system in the city of St. Louis. This school was later named Harris Teachers College in honor of William Torrey who had been a superintendent of instruction in the St. Louis Public Schools and also a United States Commissioner of Education.

In 1920, Harris Teachers College became a four-year undergraduate institution authorized to grant a Bachelors in Arts in Education Degree. In 1924, the college received accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Accreditation of Colleges and Schools. Accreditation from other agencies followed, including accreditation by the American Association of Colleges for Teachers Education and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

In 1890, A second predecessor of the institution was Stowe Teachers College, which began as a normal school for future black teachers of elementary schools in the city of St. Louis. This normal school was also founded by the St. Louis Public School System and was an extension of Sumner High School. In 1924, the Sumner Normal School became a four-year institution with authority to grant the baccalaureate degree. In 1929, its name was changed to Stowe Teachers College, in honor of the abolitionist and novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe. Those two teacher education institutions were merged by the Board of Education of the St. Louis Public Schools in 1954.

In 1979, the General Assembly of the State of Missouri enacted Senate Bill 703 under which Harris-Stowe College became the newest member of the State system of Public Higher Education. The institution's name was changed again to officially be known as Harris-Stowe State College. In addition to the name change, the college's baccalaureate degree was changed to Bachelor of Science in Education. In 1981, the college received state approval for a new degree program, the Bachelor of Science in Urban Education.

On August 25, 2005, by mandate of the state of Missouri, Harris-Stowe State College obtained university status. Today the university hosts collaborative graduate degree programs with Maryville University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Webster University. The university continues to expand, adding new campuses and buildings as part of its 21st-century initiative to offer opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students seeking a variety of degrees.