The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA A&M COLLEGE.

Northeastern Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College had its beginning in 1919 when Gov. James B. A. Robertson signed Senate Bill Number 225 creating the Miami School of Mines. The institution's creation was indicative of the importance of mining in the Tri-State Lead and Zinc District, which comprised extreme northeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Missouri, and southeastern Kansas.

After holding classes for a year in the Mining and Exchange Building in Miami, the school moved to its current location on forty acres of land donated by interested Miami citizens. During this time a special Board of Regents governed the Miami School of Mines and organized it so that it offered college courses primarily of a scientific nature. The designation as Miami School of Mines continued until 1924 when a special legislative session changed the name to Northeastern Oklahoma Junior College and general collegiate courses were added to the curriculum.

The special board continued to govern the college until 1939 when Northeastern Oklahoma Junior College and the six teachers' colleges were placed under the Board of Regents for Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges. Northeastern Oklahoma Junior College purchased two hundred acres of farmland and constructed shop buildings to accommodate agricultural and mechanical courses. In 1943 the school changed its name to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO A&M).

At the turn of the twenty-first century with an enrollment of twenty-nine hundred, NEO A&M offered associate degrees in arts, science, and applied science, as well as one- and two-year certificate programs.

Jeff Birdsong