Synodical College was a four-year college in

Fulton, Missouri Fulton is the largest city in and the county seat of Callaway County, Missouri, United States. Located about northeast of Jefferson City and the Missouri River and east of Columbia, the city is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri, Metropolita ...

, providing education for young women from 1873 until 1928. The school operated under the auspices of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. The Synod, meeting in 1871 at

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citie ...

, accepted an offer that year of $16,500 in cash subscriptions from the citizens of

Callaway County Callaway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States Census, the county's population was 44,283. Its county seat is Fulton. With a border formed by the Missouri River, the county was organized Novembe ...

and of land, donated by Daniel M. Tucker. The college opened in 1873. Synodical, also known as Fulton Female Synodical College, was a successor institution to the Fulton Female Academy, which had been opened by Rev. William W. Robertson in 1842 as one of the earliest American women's colleges. It became affiliated with the

in 1871.

Trustees

The first board of trustees included: William King, Edwin Curd, W.W. Robertson, C.C. Hersman, John F. Cowan, W.W. Trimble, T.B. Nisbet, Samuel T. Shaw, and Samuel I. McKamey. The trustees during the final 1927–28 academic year included: C.F. Richmond, John E. Kerr, T.P. Harrison, C.R. Nisbet, S.G. Wood, T.R.R. Ely, C.A. McPheeters, J.W. Gallaher, J.W. McKamey, E.J. Grant, J.G. McConkey, I Cochran Hunt, R.S. Boyd, and Joseph Rennie.

Presidents

T.O. Rogers, 1873–1874; W.W. Hill, 1874–1877; B.H. Charles, 1877–1888; H.C. Evans, 1888–1893; John W. Primrose, 1893–1896; Thomas Peyton Walton (previously president of Elizabeth Aull Seminary at

Lexington, Missouri Lexington is a city in and the county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri. The population was 4,726 at the 2010 census. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies approximately east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropol ...

) followed; John James, 1914-1924; and Colin A. McPheeters served as Acting President during the final 1927–28 academic year.

Academic program

Synodical College was recognized by the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

as a standard junior college after 1916. In 1925 the Synod of Missouri approved a resolution, at a meeting in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

, to enhance the curriculum with the goal of providing a four-year collegiate program. The initial steps toward the goal included an affiliation agreement with Westminster College to share some faculty and courses. Synodical College closed in 1928.

Alumnae

Hallie Paxson Winsborough Hallie Paxson Winsborough (March 7, 1865 – June 20, 1940) was an American church worker. As the first Secretary of Women's Work for the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), she worked for civil rights and interracial cooperation, ...

(1865–1940), American church worker

Bibliography

* Conrad, ed. ''Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri'', vol. VI. 1901. pp. 147–8. * Parrish, William E. ''Westminster College: An Informal History, 1851-1999''. 2000. pp. 51, 165. * ''Synodical College Catalog, 1927-28'', vol. XIII. June, 1927. * Williams, Walter. ''The State of Missouri''. 1901. p. 342.

External links