History

Cedar Valley Seminary came about after a proposal from the Osage Baptist Church to the Cedar Valley Baptist Association.  The school opened in January of 1863 with Alva Bush and two assistants teaching 31 students.  In September of 1863 enrollment passed 100; at that time the Association took control of the school.  And while Cedar Valley Seminary was a Baptist school, it was not sectarian, being “a public institution of higher learning devoted to the interests of all the people in the neighboring country.

 

The school’s curriculum was designed to be of practical value to students.  It offered five courses of study: 

     A teachers’ course of one, two, or three years;

     A business course of 2-3 terms to prepare students for office or clerical work;

     A four-year scientific course focusing on all branches of science with German, history, and English literature added;

     A four-year literary course with three years of Latin at its core;

     A four-year classic course with one and one-half years of Greek.

 

Students were offered the opportunity to join one of two literary societies—Aeonian or Zetagathian—providing practice in speaking, reading, and literature.  C.V.S. also sponsored a rhetorical association, a glee club and a Christian association.  All students were required to practice instrumental or vocal music.  A 1901 advertisement mentions “military drill.”

 

In 1916-17 enrollment numbered around 78—45 in the four-year programs, 20 in the commercial program, and 13 in the normal program.  Cedar Valley Seminary/Junior College was closed in 1922, “no longer filling a need in the community.”