Edgar A. Long was born in 1871 in Alabama, on land that later became the site for the Tuskegee Institute. Under the guidance of Booker T. Washington, Mr. Long studied printing, and then worked in Black-owned businesses in Alabama. In 1897, Mr. Long was invited to teach printing at the Christiansburg Institute, as the school evolved to follow the Tuskegee model of industrial education. In 1905, Mr. Long succeeded his friend Charles Marshall as Principal of Christiansburg Industrial Institute. For the next decade, Principal Long guided the school in developing an advanced curriculum that combined academic subjects with vocational training. Principal Long also emerged as a community leader, with the founding of a colored hospital on school grounds, as well as an advocate for the professional organization of African-American teachers. Following several years of illness, Mr. Long died in 1924.