Cherokee Male Seminary
The Cherokee Male Seminary was a
Creation
After
In a ceremony on October 28, 1847, the first cornerstone of the male seminary, containing books and documents, was laid by Chief Ross.[2]
Before the school opened, representatives from the Cherokee Nation visited New England seeking teachers and recruited faculty from Yale University, Mount Holyoke College, and Newton Theological Seminary.[3] $80,000 of tribal funds was allocated for the construction of Cherokee Male Seminary and the Cherokee Female Seminary.[4]
1851–1856
The Cherokee Male Seminary opened its doors to 27 new students on May 6, 1851.
To gain admission, prospective students had to pass a two-day examination. The tribe paid for the students' tuition and expenses.[3] By 1856, 13 men graduated from the Male Seminary. New students were not accepted in the fall of 1856. Reopening of the school was delayed until the 1870s due to the effects of the American Civil War.[3]
1870s
After the war, the school was reopened in the 1870s. Students had to pay for their room and board, and the Cherokee Nation opened enrollment to men from other Native American tribes. At the time "the Cherokee Nation had a better common school system than either Arkansas or Missouri," writes historian Grant Foreman.[3]
Closing
Under the assimilationist Curtis Act of 1898, the US federal government systematically dismantled Cherokee tribal institutions, including the Cherokee Male Seminary. The tribe continued using the school building as a co-educational facility after Oklahoma statehood, but it burnt down in 1910.[1] The last students graduated that year, with commencement ceremonies being held at Northeastern State Normal School.[3] The Cherokee Nation has not operated a tribal college since then.
Notable alumni
- William Wirt Hastings[1] (1866–1938), US Representative
- Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation
- Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation
- Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation[5]
- Clement V. Rogers (1839–1911), Cherokee Nation senator and judge, father of humorist Will Rogers[6]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Conley, 56
- ^ a b Foreman, 393
- ^ a b c d e f Agnew, Brad. "Cherokee Male and Female Seminaries." Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. (retrieved 30 August 2009)
- ^ a b c Foreman, 408
- ^ Conley, 151
- ^ Conley, 190
References
- Conley, Robert J. A Cherokee Encyclopedia. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8263-3951-5.
- Foreman, Grant. The Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982. ISBN 978-0-8061-0923-7.