Northwest Missouri College
Albany, Missouri
1893-1907
Travel and E-Travel
As a teacher in 1964, I attended a basketball game in the armory at Albany. The State Historical Society of Missouri provided a scan of the 1907 Torch yearbook. Internet Archive has two early school catalogues. The Albany Capital, source of the ad (right), carried articles about Northwest Missouri College.
History
Northwest Missouri College grew from 1891 discussions in the Methodist Episcopal Church South of the need for an educational institution in Northwest Missouri. Classes began on January 9, 1893 for 43 students. By June 1894 that number had swelled to 125. Early planning called for a four-year college supported by a preparatory department, including “even the smallest children,” with the college faculty also teaching the younger students. This system would
provide the younger students with the knowledge base to become successful college students, At the same time, the faculty would become familiar with “the character and habits” of the students for future guidance.
The initial faculty consisted of seven: four—including administrative officers—teaching a traditional liberal arts curriculum, supported by teachers of music, expression, and business. Most faculty helped in the normal program.
Students were overwhelmingly from Northwest Missouri. Of 133 matriculates listed in 1895, 128 were from Missouri, 91 from Gentry County.
Student activities were dominated by music and expression. The first commencement featured medals awarded for oration, declamation, and recitation—along with art and essay writing. Later commencements featured vocal and instrumental numbers. Piano recitals were a regular staple of entertainment. In 1903 the Senate-Clionian Literary Society was formed, leading to a debate team which competed against Albany High School in 1906.
After a promising start, Northwest Missouri College experienced difficulties. Enrollment seldom exceeded 100 students. In 1899 it was reduced to an academy for Central College at Fayette but returned to local control and collegiate work in 1901. Offered to the state as a normal school in 1905, it lost to Maryville. Unable to raise a sustainable endowment, the school did not open in fall 1907.
The 1907 graduating class consisted of "six brown-eyed brunettes." Images from The Torch
On January 21, 1893, twelve days after classes had begun, the building burned. But the town and college came together and totally replaced the building within a year.
In 1912, the property was purchased by Palmer College and used by them until 1930. In July 1937 the building was razed to make way for the armory, mentioned above.
Bricks and Mortar
A group of local businessmen formed the Albany Land and Improvement Company to locate and build the new school.
ocated on nine acres of land at the highest point in town, the new structure was 125 by 84 feet. With a basement, two main floors, and an attic, it was “practically a four-story building.” Built of red pressed bricks with a slate roof, it had “about 20 rooms in all.” In addition to classrooms, these included a library and the president’s office. The chapel/study hall, measuring 43 x 81feet, occupied the east wing of the building. For a number of years this room served as the preferred venue in Albany for cultural events
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Administrative/Classroom Building. The chapel is to the right. Image from the 1916 Palmer College catalogue carried by HathiTrust.
Sports
School colors: Red and Black
In 1897 the Darlington Record noted that the N.W.C. baseball team “have expert players now.” This is likely the history of N.W.C. sports. At times school enrollment was as low as 80 students of both sexes at all levels. So the first sports question would surely be, “Do we have enough players for a team?” The Torch shows only 13 males in the college program--with an additional 10 males taking a commercial course.0
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Newspaper show some football activity in the years 1896, 1898, 1902-04 and 1906. Only the 1903 and 1904 teams played college-level opponents in Stanberry Normal and Chillicothe Normal. The 1898 and 1906 teams played local high schools. The 1896 team played a team from Maryville; The Capital reported in 1902 that there was a “team at the college.”
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Albany was described as a “champion baseball town,” so a team from the college defeated Stanberry Normal 3-2. Among school commencement activities was a field day in 1898.
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