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Bacone College
Bacone College, formerly Bacone Indian University, was a private college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by missionary Almon C. Bacone, it was originally affiliated with the mission arm of what is now American Baptist Churches USA. Renamed as Bacone College in the early 20th century, it was the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma at the time of its closure. The liberal arts college had strong historic ties to several tribal nations, including the Muscogee and Cherokee. The Bacone College Historic District has been on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Muskogee County, Oklahoma since 2014.
In 2018, the college was struggling financially. Several tribal nations agreed that year to a consortium and chartered it as a tribal college to secure federal funding under the government's treaty obligations to support Native American education. However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not approve conversion, leaving the college with financial issues. The college subsequently suspended operations for the spring semester of 2024 and filed for bankruptcy.
Some accounts credit Almon C. Bacone, a missionary teacher in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, with asking the American Baptist Home Mission Society for support to start a school in the Cherokee Baptist Mission at their capital, Tahlequah in 1867. Bacone had previously taught at the Cherokee Male Seminary established in Indian Territory.
According to historian John Bartlett Meserve, Bacone College can be traced to a Baptist mission school at Valley Town in western North Carolina, which was part of Cherokee homelands. Evan Jones, one of the earliest missionaries to the Cherokee, led the school. After most of the Cherokee were removed to Indian Territory in the late 1830s, the Valley Town school moved to a site near what developed as present-day Westville, Oklahoma.
In 1867, Evan Jones' son, John B. Jones, moved the school to Tahlequah in the Cherokee Nation. In 1885, the mission school moved to Muskogee, Creek Nation, and changed its name to Bacone, after its first teacher.
When Bacone College was founded (at the time more of a seminary or academy in curriculum level) in 1867, Almon C Bacone was the sole faculty and three students were enrolled. By the end of the first semester, students had increased to 12. By the end of the first year, the student population was 56 and the faculty numbered three.
Bacone appealed to the Muscogee Creek Nation's Tribal Council to donate 160 acres (0.65 km2) (a quarter section) of land for the college in nearby Muskogee. It was the capital of the Creek Nation, and informally known as the "Indian Capital of the World".[citation needed] The Nation granted the land to Bacone and the Baptists.
In 1885, Indian University was moved to a new building at its present site in Muskogee. It continued to develop here. In 1910, it was renamed Bacone College, after its founder and first president.
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Bacone College
Bacone College, formerly Bacone Indian University, was a private college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by missionary Almon C. Bacone, it was originally affiliated with the mission arm of what is now American Baptist Churches USA. Renamed as Bacone College in the early 20th century, it was the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma at the time of its closure. The liberal arts college had strong historic ties to several tribal nations, including the Muscogee and Cherokee. The Bacone College Historic District has been on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Muskogee County, Oklahoma since 2014.
In 2018, the college was struggling financially. Several tribal nations agreed that year to a consortium and chartered it as a tribal college to secure federal funding under the government's treaty obligations to support Native American education. However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not approve conversion, leaving the college with financial issues. The college subsequently suspended operations for the spring semester of 2024 and filed for bankruptcy.
Some accounts credit Almon C. Bacone, a missionary teacher in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, with asking the American Baptist Home Mission Society for support to start a school in the Cherokee Baptist Mission at their capital, Tahlequah in 1867. Bacone had previously taught at the Cherokee Male Seminary established in Indian Territory.
According to historian John Bartlett Meserve, Bacone College can be traced to a Baptist mission school at Valley Town in western North Carolina, which was part of Cherokee homelands. Evan Jones, one of the earliest missionaries to the Cherokee, led the school. After most of the Cherokee were removed to Indian Territory in the late 1830s, the Valley Town school moved to a site near what developed as present-day Westville, Oklahoma.
In 1867, Evan Jones' son, John B. Jones, moved the school to Tahlequah in the Cherokee Nation. In 1885, the mission school moved to Muskogee, Creek Nation, and changed its name to Bacone, after its first teacher.
When Bacone College was founded (at the time more of a seminary or academy in curriculum level) in 1867, Almon C Bacone was the sole faculty and three students were enrolled. By the end of the first semester, students had increased to 12. By the end of the first year, the student population was 56 and the faculty numbered three.
Bacone appealed to the Muscogee Creek Nation's Tribal Council to donate 160 acres (0.65 km2) (a quarter section) of land for the college in nearby Muskogee. It was the capital of the Creek Nation, and informally known as the "Indian Capital of the World".[citation needed] The Nation granted the land to Bacone and the Baptists.
In 1885, Indian University was moved to a new building at its present site in Muskogee. It continued to develop here. In 1910, it was renamed Bacone College, after its founder and first president.