Campus History

On September 25, 1873, Dr. Nathan Jackson Morrison, the first president of Drury College, stood in the second-story window of an unfinished building and rang a borrowed boardinghouse dinner bell to announce the opening of the school. The six faculty members and thirty-nine students in attendance that day had to share the simple brick structure with carpenters and plasterers, and the isolated campus consisted of a few hardscrabble acres of prairie dotted with hazel brush and hickory saplings. Today, Drury University sits upon a 90-acre campus and has over 2,200 undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students. The school has a vibrant and innovative academic program, a strong tradition in athletics, and over 30,000 living alumni. For 150 years, Drury University has stood as an institution that blends liberal learning and professional studies in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks.

Lincoln University was founded in 1866 for the education of freed blacks after the Civil War. This book focuses on the years between 1920 and 1970, a span of time during which many of the university's
most signifi cant developments occurred. During this period, Lincoln Institute was elevated to university status, and graduate programs were added to the curriculum. A court-ordered law school was established and graduated many accomplished and respected African American attorneys before disbanding in the 1950s. During this era, the university was often referred to as "the Harvard of the Midwest" due to the acclaimed reputation of its faculty. Many alumni have made outstanding contributions at local, state, and national levels. After the 1954 United States Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, the university integrated its student body. As a result, student enrollment changed dramatically from all black to a signifi cantly white clientele. Today the university retains its designation as a historically
black college/university.

On November 19, 1906, the School of the Ozarks was chartered by the State of Missouri.

The poverty-stricken Ozarks had limited educational opportunities, but when the first students enrolled, the school did not depend on tuition dollars. Instead, each student worked at the school in exchange for an education. Today, the College of the Ozarks is a liberal arts college where students still work for their degrees. The institution is recognized for its emphasis on academics, faith, patriotism, and vocation, and it continues its commitment to the mission “to provide the advantages of a Christian education for youth of both sexes, especially those found worthy, but who are without sufficient means to procure such training.” Located near Branson, Missouri, the campus hosts thousands of visitors each year who enjoy Williams Memorial Chapel; Edwards Mill; and the Keeter Center, modeled after a historic building on the Point Lookout campus. Visitors discover a unique college where generations of students have gained a life-changing education.

Gwen Simmons is the director of Lyons Memorial Library at the College of the Ozarks and an alumna of the institution. Most of the images featured in this book are a part of the college’s archival collections at the library, alumni center, and museum.