The Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary was located at 3303 North 21st Place in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, United States. Opened in 1891 in

downtown Omaha Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east ...

, the institution moved to the

Kountze Place The Kountze Place neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska is a historically significant community on the city's north end. Today the neighborhood is home to several buildings and homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located ...

neighborhood in North Omaha in 1902 and closed in 1943. Converted to apartments, the building stood until 1979 when a fire destroyed it.

History

On February 17, 1891, a group of

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

pastors and lay leaders gathered to establish a Presbyterian Seminary in Omaha. They felt a need for educated

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

to serve small, rural communities in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. Enrolling its first students in September 1891, from 1895 to 1902 the seminary was located in the former Cozzens House Hotel at 9th and Harney Streets in

Downtown Omaha Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east ...

. It was replaced in 1902 when a new facility was built in the

suburb of North Omaha. The building was demolished later that year. In 1901 the seminary purchased in Kountze Place for $20,000. Within a year a building was completed that included dormitory rooms, classrooms, offices, a library and a chapel, as well as a dining room, janitor's quarters and other rooms. It was a three-story-tall gray stone building with high basement windows and a bell tower above the middle section. In 1903, funds from Judge Charles E. Vanderburgh's estate were bequeathed to the seminary to support the construction of the president's home on campus. Mary Sibbet Copley was the primary philanthropist supporting the seminary. After her initial contribution of the Cozzens Hotel in

in 1902, she made regular donations, practically underwriting the institution. In 1929, she left a bequest of $150,000 to the seminary. In 1909 the

University of Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

was established a few blocks north of the seminary and most of the teachers were recruited from seminary faculty. Three of the university's first four presidents were ordained Presbyterian ministers. In 1943 the general assembly of the United States Presbyterian Church voted to close the seminary after it failed to meet the minimum

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

standards of the

American Association of Theological Schools The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. History The ATS was foun ...

. More than 1,000 graduates served in the Midwest, other states and around the world. The seminary's governing board continued to exist for several decades after its closure, and today operates as the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation. After turning the building into an apartment house they became committed to raising funds to support theology students attending schools around the world. After it was a seminary, the building became a privately owned apartment building, and then a federally-subsidized apartment building. A fire destroyed the structure in 1979, and as of 2022 the lot still sits empty.Fletcher Sasse, A. (October 5, 2015
"A history of the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary,"
NorthOmahaHistory.com. Retrieved September 25, 2022.

Notable alumni

* Colvin G. Butler, Presbyterian pastor, farmer, and Minnesota state legislator * Frederick Wedge, Presbyterian pastor, evangelist and educator, who had boxed professionally as "Kid" Wedge * Robert G. Rayburn, Presbyterian pastor, first president of Covenant Theological Seminary, and first president of Covenant College

References

External links

"A History of the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Society"
by Adam Fletcher Sasse for NorthOmahaHistory.com
Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation
official website
Photo of the seminary at the former Cozzens House Hotel
{{authority control Universities and colleges established in 1891 1943 disestablishments in Nebraska Presbyterian Church (USA) seminaries Defunct private universities and colleges in Nebraska Former buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Education in North Omaha, Nebraska History of North Omaha, Nebraska Christianity in Omaha, Nebraska 1891 establishments in Nebraska

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

Further reading

External links