Today's Focus
Advertisement for Western Baptist College in Missouri
from The Missouri Messenger January 26, 1900
Advertisement for Western Baptist College in Missouri
from The Missouri Messenger January 26, 1900
Source:
Ancestry.com. U.S., African American Newspapers, 1829-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.Original data: Negro Newspapers for the American Council of Learned Studies. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.
I decided to take a look at "The Missouri Messenger" a publication that was said to be "the organ of 35,000 Baptists". In that particular edition, I learned about an institution with which I was unfamiliar. The classifieds of a 1900 edition of the paper brought to my attention an ad reflecting Western Baptist College, a small Baptist college located in Macon, Missouri.
(Source: Same as above)
The college offered Christian education, and elementary and a normal school, with training for the ministry as well. Western Baptist was a boarding school as well as as a day school. Upon researching the history of the school, it was amazing to find out that the school still exists to this day. It is the first and only religious affiliated institution west of the Mississippi founded exclusively by African Americans.
The history of the school goes back to 1889 when a special meeting of Baptists took place in Sedalia Missouri, and from the series of meetings in that state, it was decided to lease an old church building for 5 years for the purposes of establishing a school. After arrangements were made, the school opened in January of 1890 enrolling 14 students. Within a year's time an offer for a permanent location of the school was accepted from parties in Macon Missouri. There was immediate interest in the school and its legacy was established. Petitions for funding for the college were met and granted from multiple parties including endorsements from local white Baptist churches in the local area, as well as the Baptist Home Mission Society based in New York that donated $1200 to the school. (Source of historical information.)
The school was strongly supported by the Baptist church and it was common that members of the Church's hierarchy often visited the school. The same edition of the Missouri Messenger reflected the visit of pastors from St. Louis to the campus.
(Source: Same as link from above image)
Like many Historically Black Institutions, Western Baptist offered a preparatory school in addition to the normal college programs. The school began offering programs to both males and females, and eagerly sought assistance for the erection of a dormitory for girls on the school's grounds.
(Source: Same as above.)
For over 30 years the school thrived in Macon, and in 1920, the school moved to Kansas City Missouri. It was located at first on Woodland Avenue of the city and later Tracy Avenue in the city. Over time the focus became centered on higher education and that became the focus and continues to this day.
The Missouri Messenger is a unique paper reflecting not only the Baptist community that it served, but also a unique school with an interesting legacy and history. It can be viewed on Ancestry in the collection of African American newspapers.
1 comment:
My husband's family reunion is in St. Louis this year. Maybe I will have a chance to drive by the campus there. I enjoy looking at items in the old papers too. I didn't realize Ancestry had an African American newspaper collection available.
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