Although formal instructional programs at Jarvis began on January 13, 1913, with an enrollment of twelve students, all in the elementary grades, the school began as early as 1904, when the Negro Disciples of Christ of Texas began to plan for a school for black youth. Major James Jarvis and his wife Ida Van Zandt Jarvis donated land upon which the school could be built; the family deeded 456 acres to the Christian Women's Board of Missions on the condition it be maintained as a school for blacks. Jarvis opened its doors as Jarvis Christian Institute, modeled after the Southern Christian Institute located west of Jackson in Edwards, Mississippi. Jarvis is the only historically black college which remains of the twelve founded by the Disciples of Christ Church. Jarvis' first students were educated in the remains of an old logging camp and later in a cabin which became the school's first multi-purpose building.
1910s
Thomas Buchanan Frost came to the school as superintendent in 1912. Mr. Charles Albert Berry joined him as the principal. In 1914, James Nelson Ervin became the first president of Jarvis, and served in that capacity until 1938. During the first year of Ervin's tenure, high school classes were added to the curriculum. It became one of the few places at the time at which blacks in East Texas could complete a high school education. Some college work was offered as early as 1916. The executive committee of the National Women's Board voted in May, 1915, to appropriate $1,000 for a sawmill that was purchased and installed on campus. The sawmill was operated from the 1920s through the 1940s by male students in the summer. They cut wood for structures on campus and to fire furnaces and stoves used during winter months around campus. Most of the buildings on the Jarvis Campus built during the 1920s-1940s were made with wood from this mill. Most of those buildings burned.
1920s
In 1927, junior college courses were integrated in to the curriculum. In 1928, the school incorporated as a college.
1930s
Senior College course offerings were introduced at Jarvis in 1937. The Emma Smith Building, used to house administration offices, was built in 1936 and is the only campus structure surviving from the Ervin presidency. In 1938, Peter Clarence Washington began his tenure as the second president of Jarvis Christian College. High school work was eliminated from the curriculum the same year. In 1939, the state of Texas granted a formal charter to Jarvis Christian College.
Eubanks became the third President of Jarvis Christian College in 1951. In 1953 Dr. Cleo Walter Blackburn became college president.
1960s
Blackburn ensured an affiliation between Jarvis and Texas Christian University in 1964 that was renewed twice and terminated in 1976. In 1964, Agro-Industrial offerings were eliminated from curriculum. The Olin Library and Communication Center was opened to students in 1965. In 1966, Dr. Perpener became the fifth president of Jarvis and the first alumni appointed to the office. In 1966, Jarvis was granted membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Jarvis affiliated with the Texas Association of Developing Colleges, a six-college consortium of historically Black colleges the next year.In 1969, the Charles A. Meyer Science and Mathematics Center opened.
1970s
Four additional residence halls were opened on campus in the 1970s.
2010s
In May 2017, it was announced that Jarvis Christian College will open a satellite campus in Dallas at the Southwest Center Mall beginning August 2017. Courses available are in criminal justice, business management, religion, data analytics, and cybersecurity.
Jarvis houses a regional collection of biologial specimens in its 10,000 square foot Frost Hall. The collections are concentrated on the herbarium and entomology collections, but also houses minor holdings in other natural history areas of study and historical materials that are related to natural history or land use history.
