In 1890, the university, then known as the Centenary Biblical Institute, changed its name to honor Lyttleton Morgan, the first chairman of its board of trustees and a donor.

It was founded in 1867 as the Centenary Biblical Institute, a Methodist Episcopal seminary, to train young men in the ministry.

At the time of his death, Thomas Kelso, co-founder and president of the board of directors, endowed the Male Free School and Colored Institute through a legacy of his estate.

[7] In 1895, the institution awarded its first baccalaureate degree to George W. F. McMechen, after whom the building of the school of business and management is named today.

McMechen later earned a law degree from Yale University and, after establishing his career, became one of Morgan's main financial supporters.

[14][15][16][17][18] In 1902, Morgan's assets were a little over $100,000 in grounds, equipment and endowments, including its branch schools at the time; the then Princess Anne Academy and the Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute.

The terms of the grant included the purchase of a new site for the College, payment of all outstanding obligations, and the construction of a building to be named after him.

[citation needed] In 1918, the white community of Lauraville tried to have the sale revoked by filing suit in the circuit court in Towson, upset that the Ivy Mill property, the planned location of Morgan State, had been sold to a "negro" college.

The William Donald Schaefer Building is a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) addition to the Engineering School and was completed in April 1998.

The school is also the host of the student-run newspaper The Spokesman, the university's radio station WMUR Baltimore, and its television network BEAR-TV.

The African-American collection includes papers and memorabilia of such persons as Emmett Jay Scott, secretary to Booker T. Washington.

[35] Almost 10% of the student population is international, including many from countries like Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia.

More than thirty of its football players were drafted by and played in the NFL[38] and many of its track athletes competed internationally and received world-class status.

For example, the annual contest between Morgan State and Grambling played in New York City in the late 1960s drew more than 60,000 fans.

Former Morgan Bears Len Ford, Leroy Kelly, Willie Lanier and Rosey Brown are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

More than two hundred men and women Morgan State athletes have been inducted into the Morgan State University Hall of Fame including National Football League Hall of Famers Rosey Brown, Leroy Kelly and Willie Lanier, two-time Olympic Gold medalist George Rhoden, and the coach of the Ten Bears lacrosse team Howard "Chip" Silverman.

[46] On November 28, 2019, the Magnificent Marching Machine performed during Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

Robert Shaw has directed them, together with the Orchestra of St. Lukes and Jessye Norman and others in Carnegie Hall's One Hundredth Birthday Tribute to Marian Anderson.

Since 2017, the Morgan State University choir has toured, Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Slovakia, Germany, England, Scotland, Wales, Peru, Ecuador, and Galapagos Islands.

In December 2021, the choir sang a concert in Hawaii, to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

[50] Morgan State University has over 20+ fraternity and sorority chapters including the nine National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations, social fellowships, clubs, student government association (SGA), and free purpose recreation spaces.

[citation needed] WMUR Baltimore is the student operated radio station of the School of Global Journalism and Communication and the university.

"[citation needed] Broadcasting since 1977, WEAA 88.9 operates independently and attracts support from public donors, underwriters, and grant-makers.

[53] Alumni of Morgan State University have achieved notability in the fields of athletics, science, government, law, the arts, and the military including four members of the NFL Football Hall of Fame (Willie Lanier, Roosevelt Brown, Leroy Kelly, and Len Ford), Black Enterprise Magazine publisher Earl Graves, the Chief Judge of Maryland's highest court, Clarence Dunnaville, lawyer and civil rights activist, and nearly a dozen U.S. Army Generals including Lieutenant General William "Kip" Ward, the first Commanding Officer of the United States Africa Command.

The New York Times sports columnist William C. Rhoden, playwright, TV producer, and entrepreneur David E. Talbert, and American-Israeli Olympic sprinter Donald Sanford are also alumni.

Civil rights activist and music critic for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper Adah Jenkins graduated from Morgan State as did scientist and inventor Valerie Thomas.

[citation needed] Former faculty member Ernest Lyon was a United States Ambassador to Liberia and the founder of the Maryland Industrial and Agricultural Institute for Colored Youths.

[54] Noted African American historian and pioneering scholar Dr. Benjamin A. Quarles served on its faculty for many decades.

[citation needed] Notable faculty currently teaching at Morgan State University include bestselling author and filmmaker MK Asante, and scholar Raymond Winbush.