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Mary Holmes College 1882-2005 West Point, Mississippi

Mascot was Eagle Motto after 1969 Mississippi charter was 'Not to seem, but to be' Degrees offered: Two year degrees in education, liberal arts, business, computer IT, and health professions.

SUMMARY Mary Holmes College is a monument in Clay County, Mississippi. It was a historically black college founded as a secondary school in 1892 in Jackson, Mississippi, by the Board of Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. It moved to West Point in 1897. In 1932, Mary Holmes became coeducational and organized its first college department. The high school closed in 1959, and the school became a two year college specializing in liberal arts, career studies, and science.

The Presbyterian Historical Society (www.history.pcusa.org) administers transcripts for Mary Homes College. To request a transcript, go to http://www.history.pcusa.org/services/reference/Transcripts_Request_Form.pdf

ARTICLE On Monday December 26, 1882, Mary Holmes College was founded in Jackson, Mississippi. Originally named the Mary Holmes Seminary, it was the creation of the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Located in Jackson, Mississippi, the school was dedicated to the Christian education of "African American" girls, largely in the domestic arts. Until 1932, the stated goal of the school was to educate and train African American women from all over the country. “It is the aim of the Mary Holmes Seminary to educate her pupils physically, mentally, morally and spiritually; to train them first to be home-makers, then to be wise leaders in society and the church.”

Conceived and initiated through the efforts of the Reverend Mead Holmes and his daughter, Miss Mary Holmes, the school was named for his wife Mrs. Mary Holmes, who had long been a tireless and devoted missionary for the Freedmen’s Mission. The Board of Missions of the United Presbyterian Church, USA operated the school but its stance was always non-sectarian.

On January 30, 1895 a fire destroyed the campus in Jackson, MS and the school was moved to a 25 acre plot of ground west of  West Point, Ms. that was donated to the college. Later adjacent farm land was purchased giving the college 184 acres of land for a campus. Another destructive fires occurred on March 6, 1899 that completely destroyed the buildings. Insurance paid for the loss and the school was rebuilt and opened again January 2, 1900. In spite of these two fires and one more subsequent fire, the College continued to seek to educate youth for worthy, purposeful lives till closing in 2005. In 1932, the school became coeducational admitting both male and females. It also added the college department, with the primary purpose of training elementary teachers. At this time, private schools like Mary Holmes were the main sources for Black teachers in the south, and the preparation of Mary Holmes graduates had them in great demand. By 1959, the State of Mississippi was assuming a greater responsibility for elementary and secondary education so the high school department of Mary Holmes was dropped, leaving it free to concentrate on being a Junior College. In June 1969, the State of Mississippi granted a charter, making the institution a legal entity under the name of Mary Holmes College, Inc. Since that date it was operated under its own Board of Trustees. The Mary Holmes College Board of Trustees voted on April 22, 2004 to pursue bankruptcy. The Presbyterian Church USA assumed control of the property on February 1, 2005. The announcement that the school had closed its doors was made March 3, 2005. In May 2010, the campus was sold to community counseling Services who still occupied the premises as of Sept 2013. At this time, most of the dorms are vacant and many of the buildings are not used at all. As of September 2013, there was an active alumni association on Facebook under the name Mary Holmes College Alumni Project

Reference: 1. Black American Colleges and Universities: Profiles of Two-Year, Four-Year, & Professional Schools by Levirn Hill, Pub., Gale Group, 1994 ISBN: 0-02-864984-2

2. The afro American newspaper. National edition, Baltimore, MD Page 16, January 28, 1967

3. Mary Holmes Seminary annual Catalogue for 1925 http://digilib.usm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/missana/id/412

4. African American Registry Mary Holmes College http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/mary-holmes-college-founded

5.  Presbyterian Historical Society http://www.history.pcusa.org/