Yankton College

Yankton College. "Oldest Institution of Higher Learning in the Dakotas". Joseph Ward, a graduate of Brown University and Andover Seminary came to Yankton Academy but it was taken over by the school board and became Yankton High School, the first secondary schools in Dakota., In May 1881, Yankton College was authorized by the Congregational Church Association of the Territory and it was chartered under Territorial laws, August 30, 1881., Classes were started in the Congregational Church, October 4, 1882, and continued in a small 3-room building near the church. Middle Building, still standing, was erected in 1883 and dedicated September 1884., At first commencement, in 1887, when only Edward Hinman Pound was graduated, President Ward made a memorable address prophesying a thousand years of growth of the college devoted to building character, the highest standards and a continual striving for ideals high above the horizon. He died December 11, 1889, leaving a firm foundation and a perpetual desire to achieve his ideals., Its campus on the reverse, shows the growth of the physical plant. The regimes of President Warren and Nash showed the greatest advances in the construction program. In 1931, Fargo College was merged with Yankton and a year later, a like merger with Redfield College was effected., To include 1962, 2,238 of its graduates have gone out into the world to carry out the principles President Ward emphasized 75 years ago., Reverse Side:, Campus , 1 - Old Middle 1883 Conservatory , 2 - Dakin Hall 1889 Burned 1914 , 3 - Ward Hall 1894 , 4 - Clarke Ob'vty 1894 , 5 - Fargo Union 1903 Was Crane Gymnasium , 6 - Library 1904 Carnegie , 7 - Kingsbury Hall 1915 , 8 - Garden Theatre 1915 , 9 - Forbes Hall of Science and Chapel 1930 , 10 - Stadium 1926 Crane Field , 11 - Look Hall 1931 , 12 - Nash Field House 1948 , 13 - New Mens Dorm 1948 , B - Lay Cottage 1890 Burned 1921, , Presidents , 1. Joseph Ward 1883-89 , 2. Dan F. Bradley 1889-92 Acting , 3. Albert T. Free 1892-95 , 4. Henry K. Warren 1895-1925 , 5. George W. Nash 1925-40 Y.C. Class of 1891 , 6. Joseph L. McCorison 1940-43 , 7. William Lang 1943-45 Acting , 8. James C. Graham 1945-54 , 9. Adrian Rondileau 1954-1962, [dashed outline] Burned Structure , [large X] Private Grounds