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 Black College Located Here at Turn of Century
Taken  from an article in a 1976 Edition of the Macon Chronicle-Herald Historical Background by Irma Miller - Text by Sandy Coons 
 
An unusual educational facility existed in Macon around the turn of the  century which was sponsored statewide by the Baptist Church with the goal of  educating young black people in the Midwest. Western College was organized in
January 1890, originating in Independence, Mo., moved to Macon in 1892 and  remained until 1921 when it moved to Kansas City. It began as a seminary, but  the need for higher education for blacks was so great that other departments of  education were added.
 
After 1892 the college was located at Jackson and Weller  Streets on 12 acres of land which originally cost $5,000. By 1913 the property,  including equipment and library, was valued at $25,000.
 
According to James H.  Major, a Macon resident who attended Western College, the college offered  English Preparatory for fifth, sixth graders and junior high students and  Academical for high school students, College, Theological and Industrial  courses.

The stated purpose of the school was "to train black students to become  useful, industrious and intelligent citizens, and energetic, inspiring school  teachers, missionaries, preachers and laborers in general."
 
STRESS CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION
 Dormitories were available for out-of-town students. According to Mrs.  Joe Ancell, another Western College student, the college attracted students from  Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin, thus  extending its influence over the entire Midwest. The college served a large  number of area and state students as well. In many Missouri towns education for  older black students was not available past elementary school so they came to  Macon to Western College. It is recorded that great stress was laid upon  Christian culture and education at the college. Mrs. Ancell recalled that the  college was very strict; students who didn't obey the rules didn't stay there. 

The institution while in Macon was mainly supported by donations. Although  tuition and board were charged, they were kept very low so that more black youth  would be able to receive an education. As a resident student, Mrs. Ancell paid
the college $2 per month.
 
Mrs. Ancell attended the college from 1914 to 1918,  taking the academic courses equivalent to high school. "I couldn't afford to go  away to school at that time. Later my parents could afford to send me away," she  explained. If Western College had not been available, the nearest alternative  for Mrs. Ancell would have been Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City. Dumas
School in Macon offered education for blacks to the tenth grade and to the  eleventh grade for a while during this period.

Mrs. Ancell was born in Shelbina  and raised in Macon. Her husband also attended Western College and both of them
went on to further their education after leaving the college. Mrs.  Ancell attended Western University in Kansas City and took summer courses at  Drake University in Des Moines where she stayed with her aunt and uncle. Her  husband went into the army and then attended Western University, graduating in  1933.

A NICE SCHOOL FOR THE TIMES
 "It (Western College) was a nice, small school  for the times with good moral training. The low costs made it possible for
people with small means to further their education," Mrs. Ancell reminisced. She remembers walking to the college each day, which was quite a distance, remembers  the fine music department and the cantatas performed as well as a presentation
of "The Mikado." She revealed that the college was quite an asset to the local  Baptist Church because the teachers and students attended along with the  townspeople.

Listed in a Western College yearbook is a diversity of subjects  that would amaze junior and senior high school educators of today. The college  offered astronomy, Latin, Greek, ethics, rhetoric, pedagogy, trigonometry,  penmanship, reading, spelling, grammar, geometry, physics, domestic sciences,  industrial sciences, business courses, theological courses and many more. Mrs.  Ancell recalls that medals were awarded for outstanding achievement in sewing,  literary, conduct and oratory.

The result of Mrs. Ancell's education was a  teaching career which lasted 12 years. She taught first and second grade at
Dumas School in Macon. Her husband, now retired, worked 27 years for the  Theodore Gary family and also at the Coca Cola Bottling Plant.
 
Asked if she  would encourage youth today to get more education she replied, "Yes, more so now  than ever because the opportunities are greater."
 
By 1911 Western College had  produced 234 graduates with more than two thousand students having come under
its influence for a portion of their education. The graduates at that time were  reported as including ministers, teachers, missionaries, farmers, stenographers  and postal clerks. During Mrs. Ancell's college years Dr. James H. Garnett and
Dr. Page were the college presidents.
 
LOCATION AN ADVANTAGE
 J.H. Major, or Homer  as his mother called him, attended Western College from 1911 to 1914. Major had
been born near Paris, Mo., and raised in Macon. Major's father had taught 15-20  years in the Macon area, but at the time Major was attending Western -College  his father was employed in factories in Illinois where the pay was higher.
"Having Western College close by was an advantage for me," said Major, "so I  could be home with my mother since my father worked away." He felt it was an  advantage to many others who lived in this community. If Western College had not
been located in Macon Major believes he would have attended Lincoln University,  but this would have left his mother at home alone.
 
At Western College Major  indicated he enjoyed his mathematical courses best, especially algebra, geometry  and trigonometry. Mrs. Fannie Lewis, he said, was one of his math instructors.  He also liked the education courses. Major remarked that there were 13 members  in his graduating class of 1914. Major said that many Western College graduates  went immediately into teaching positions without having to take a teaching  examination. He  had earned some college credits at Western College which transferred to  Wilberforce University. He was salutatorian of his Western College class as well  as salutatorian later when he attended Wilberforce University where he continued  his college education. At Wilberforce Major studied classical languages: German,  Latin and Greek.

Earning his A.B. degree at Wilberforce, Major began a teaching  career that spanned 40 years from 1920 to 1960. He said his mother urged him not  to come back to his hometown to teach. He agreed with her idea that it would be  to his advantage to broaden his experience and mix with other people. He taught various subjects in schools in four different states.

For three years Major  taught at the Presbyterian Academy in Bowling Green, Ky. He then spent 15 years
in Parkersburg, W. Va., where he also served as assistant principal. In the  summers Major took graduates courses at the University of Cincinnati. After  leaving West Virginia, Major traveled to Little Rock, Ark., where he taught at
Arkansas Baptist College. The remainder of his career was spent in Monroe City,  17 years, where he served as principal of the Washington School.
 
Major has been  retired 15 years now. Smiling from a seat in his Jefferson Street home, Major  proudly ex-plains that in all those years of teaching he never missed a day. 

MOVES FROM MACON
 Asked why the college moved to Kansas City in 1921, Major  replied that the directors of the college thought they could increase enrollment  by being located in a large population center. He said, however, that after  moving from Macon the college did not prosper as expected.
 
The Reverend Ray  Mallory agreed that hopes of improved enrollment were the reason for the college  moving. His great-great-aunt, Rosa L. Johnson, originally of Palmyra, was an  educator for more than 50 years with Western College at its various locations.  She served as dean of women, interim president, instructor in Latin, English and  history. In recognition of her contribution to the college during its history a  women's dormitory at the college at its Kansas City location has been named in  her honor.

Reverend Mallory says the move to Kansas City was financially  disastrous for the college because the rural churches would no longer support  it. When the college seemed doomed to fail, Rosa L. Johnson sank all of her  savings into the college on the condition that the Mo. State Missionary Baptist  Convention commit itself to the future support of the college. The college
survived with the Missouri State Missionary Baptist Convention paying part of  the expenses and the state district organizations of the Baptist Church paying  yearly allotment.
 
The Reverend Mallory, who attended the college in Kansas City,  explained that the college has come full cycle in that it is now strictly a  theological institution as it was in its earliest history. Its current name is  Western Baptist Bible College. Rosa L. Johnson was the impetus to Reverend  Mallory choosing the college for his training. Speaking of his great-great aunt,
who died in 1954, Reverend Mallory comments "She supported Western College with  everything she had."

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