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Cherokee Male Seminary

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

1851-1856, 1876-1910

E-Travel

“Cherokee Male and Female Seminaries” by Brad Agnew for the Oklahoma Historical Society is a good overview of the schools.  The same is true of the wsharing.com website.  The Sequoyah Memorial newspaper of August 2, 1855, shows enrollment and curricular data.  Histories of the baseball and football programs were compiled by James G. McCullagh and Stephanie Schmidt—also for the Oklahoma Historical Society.  The Cherokee Nation seal is from Rootsweb.

Cherokee seal.gif

History

Male Seminary and its counterpart Female Seminary were established by the Cherokee National Council in 1846 as vehicles for “the improvement of the moral and intellectual condition of our people.” One source calls them elite boarding schools.  The curriculum was developed after consultation with educators from Yale, Mount Holyoke, and Newton Theological Seminary.   In early years admission standards were high, and attrition was likewise high, but the curriculum included Latin, Greek, geometry, trigonometry, history, chemistry, philosophy, and rhetoric--in addition to daily exercises in English composition and declamation.   Classes began for 27 students on May 6, 1851.

 

Between 1856 and around 1876 both seminaries were closed for financial reasons.  Dr. Agnew notes that when they reopened, non-Cherokee students were admitted, and admission standards were relaxed.  Enrollment at Male Seminary was listed as 45 in 1855.  After the reopening, it was as low as 60 in 1879 and as high as 180 in 1908, with an average of around 100.  In 46 years of existence, Male Seminary graduated 157 students, with yearly totals between 3 and 11.

 

Students had three literary societies—Cherokee, Sequoyah, and Cooweescoowee.   These participated in oratorical contests and debates organized among themselves.  They also published Sequoyah Magazine.   The Tahlequah Arrow mentions a male quartette in 1905 and an orchestra in 1906.   Students were organized into two cadet companies with competitive drills as part of commencement week.

 

By terms of the Curtis Act of 1898, tribal governments were dissolved, preparing the way for Oklahoma statehood.  In 1908 Female Seminary gave up its campus for the new Northeastern Oklahoma Normal School.  Cherokee Male Seminary then became co-education before closing in spring 1910, with commencement being held at the Normal School.

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Pinterest image of the Male Seminary building

Bricks and Mortar

The Cherokee Male Campus was located a mile and a half southwest of Tahlequah, the Cherokee capital.  The cornerstone for the building was laid on October 28, 1847.  The three-story brick structure was described as “Colonial” and as “Old Southern.”   It had pillared porticoes on the east and north.  Bricks and construction lumber were hauled in by wagon.  

 

Since C.M.S. was a boarding school, the building also housed the students.

 

Once a sports program had been instituted, the students themselves developed the sports fields for baseball and football.

 

On March 19, 1910, the building was destroyed by fire. 

Sports

                Team name: Tigers

                School colors:  The football team wore red blankets

 

Professor McCullagh found that Cherokee Male Seminary played two football games in 1895 against Indian University (now Bacone College); then played regularly through 1909. Opponents included Henry Kendall College (Tulsa University), Epworth College (Oklahoma City University), Willie Halsell College of Vinita and Jones Academy of Hartshorn.   In addition, the Tigers played the University of Arkansas, Austin College of Texas, Peirce City College and Springfield Normal from Missouri.  That game was the first night game played west of the Mississippi River. 

 

According to McCullagh, the team was undefeated from 1898 through 1900.  Part of their success came from a Male Seminary Athletic Association which provided financial support, allowing for the hiring of a coach.   McCullagh also notes the quality of the players, many of whom graduated from the seminary and went on to successful careers.

 

McCullagh found evidence that C.M.S. played some form of baseball as early as 1876 when the school reopened.  In tracing the baseball history through 1908, he found that C.M.S. teams played a yearly schedule against  independent Tahlequah teams—in addition to Henry Kendall College. 

Flickr image of the 1897 Cherokee  Male Seminary baseball team.

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