Cedarville University - Miracle / Cedrus Yearbook (Cedarville, OH)

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•J'tr) .sreirf eji rj iwf irvt Ur (f f t Rev. David McKinney, D.D., LL.D., President Rev. David McKinney, D.D., first President of Cedarville College was pastor of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, Ohio, at the time of his appointment by the Synod. Dr. McKinney was born in Philadelphia, May 20, i860, and received his education in the Philadelphia public schools, the University of Pennsyl- vania and the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In May, 1895, Wittenberg College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. At the time that Dr. McKinney was elected president, the college was largely a prospective institution. While he continued to serve as pastor of his congregation in Cincinnati, he took hold of the college work with such energy and determination that from a plan on paper it evolved into a reality. His zeal continued through the twenty- one years that he served as president. After his resignation in 1915, he served as Presi- dent Emeritus until his death in 1934. 19

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The home of Rev. Hugh Macmillan where the first classes of Ccdarvillc College were held in 1894. G 0© HIRST ANNUAL CATALOGUE CEDARVILLE COLLEGE, 1895-96. At Duanesburgh, New York, in May of 1879, the General Synod of the Reformed Pres- byterian Church decided to establish a liberal arts college. By the will of William Gibson, an elder in the First Presbyterian Church, Cincin- nati, a bequest of $25,000 was left in 1886 to found the college at Cedarville, Greene County, Ohio. On January 26, 1887, Cedarville College was chartered by the state of Ohio. At the meet- ing of the General Synod held in Coulrerville, Illinois, in May, 1894, the Synod, upon the recom- mendation of the board of trustees, elected Dr. McKinney first President of Cedarville College. The board chose a faculty, and on Wednesday, September 19, 1894, the college was formally opened for instruction to thirty-six students in the fine old mansion (above) formerly occupied by Dr. Hugh McMillan’s Academy. The quarters proving too small for the work, the new build- ing was erected and entered the following year, 1895. The first college catalog, pictured above, appeared with 18 blue printing on an orange cover.

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The first men's baseball ream (1896) defeated Xenia and broke even with Antioch. The history of athletics began simultaneously with the history of the college, for, while no athletic organization was sponsored and financed by the college in the early days, neither was it discouraged. The students, inclined to display their skill on the gridiron and diamond, were given all encouragement and the interest which these students had for developing their abilities is manifested by the fact that they were willing to employ a coach at their own expense. In 1902, Mr. W. J. Alford presented the college trustees with the church building and grounds vacated by the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation, and desired that it be used as a gymnasium. It was equipped with complete ap- paratus for physical education and indoor ath- letics. The college boasted basketball teams of both sexes. The Xenia Gazette of 1897 carried these words to its readers: Since basketball has be- come the leading sport in all colleges, both among the girls as well as the boys, the Cedar- ville College classes have organized teams. The college girls . . . play a very lady-like game of basketball . . . One feature of their playing is their clever pass work; another, their accuracy in throwing for goals; in fact, they play the game as it should be played. We will also say that this game will be strictly moral and first class in every respect, and no lady need be backward about attending.” 20 Cedarvillc College women's basketball team of 1898, the first in Greene County. TOP ROW, Left to Right: Anna Orr (Mrs. Robert Wilson), Alice Bromagcm (Mrs. F. A. Jurkat), Bessie Hopping (Mrs. Carl Pauli). SECOND ROW: Bertha Knott, Fanny Townsley (Mrs. Wallace Iliff), Jennie Morton (Mrs. T. R. Turner), Nellie Ustick, Mary Little (Mrs. Frank Murphy). FRONT ROW: Vera Andrew (Mrs. John Harvey), Nelle Lervis (Mrs. Nelson Clark). Alford Memorial Gym, 1902.