George R. Smith College

George R. Smith College was a historically Black college located in Sedalia, Missouri, it was attended by ragtime composer Scott Joplin, who was famous for the piano music piece "Maple Leaf Rag."

History
The institution was associated with the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society of the Methodist Church and played an important role in the lives of young people for several decades.

According to the Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri edited by Howard L. Conard, the building was completed in 1882. The college operated from 1894 until it burned down in April 26, 1925, after which its assets were merged with the Philander Smith College in 1933. A photograph of George R. Smith College, with students, can be found among at the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Notable alumni

 * Myrtle Craig Mowbray, first African American woman to graduate from Michigan State University, in 1907
 * Scott Joplin, ragtime music piano composer
 * Arthur Marshall, ragtime composer and contemporary of Scott Joplin
 * Homer G. Phillips, prominent lawyer and civil rights advocate
 * T. Manuel Smith, president of the National Medical Association (1942 to 1943)

Presidents

 * P. A. Cool, 1894–1897
 * E. A. Robertson, 1897–1902
 * I. L. Lowe, 1902–1907
 * A. C. Maclin, 1907–1910
 * J. C. Sherrill, 1910–1912
 * George Evans, 1912–1914
 * Matthew Simpson Davage, 1914–1916
 * Robert B. Hayes, 1916–1925