How It Began
In 1881, Joseph Ward established his dream, a Christian institution of higher learning, Yankton College. It was chartered by the territorial government on August 30, 1881. The City of Yankton donated $11,000, of which $9,000 came from Ward’s congregation, and a tract of 25 acres to Yankton College, thereafter known as the “College on the Hill.”
The cornerstone for the first building, known as the Conservatory, was laid in June 1882. It was dedicated in connection with the formal inauguration of Ward as the first president of Yankton College. In his spirited address, Ward is quoted, “What can be nobler than to found an institution that, by the simple force of its daily life, shall go out among the young and call each one to a higher life than he could have found without it!”
Ward and others believed that wisdom, knowledge and faith were inseparable, and that it was through the study of oneself, the universe and social order that the traditions of arts and science and human thought equipped one for life. Ward “laid down courses abreast of the standards customary at that time in old and well-established institutions.” He designed the curriculum to include both classical and scientific courses, insisting on patterning his school after the established colleges he had known in the East.
In the beginning, the Articles of Incorporation included establishing eleven professorships: 1) Moral and Intellectual Philosophy and Natural Theology; 2) Latin Language and Literature; 3) Greek Language and Literature; 4) Physics and Astronomy; 5) Rhetoric, English Language and Elocution; 6) Modern Languages; 7) Music and Painting; 8) Chemistry and Mineralogy; 9) Geology and Natural History; 10) Mathematics and Civil Engineering; 11) History and Political Economy.
In addition to a four year college program, a three-year preparatory program and a two-year sub-preparatory program was offered, known as the Yankton Academy. Special programs for music and art education, and soon a teachers course were added.