Hardin College and Conservatory of Music
Mexico, Missouri
1873-1931
Travel
By the time I reached Central Missouri in 1962, Hardin Junior High School had occupied the old Hardin College campus for twenty years. But catalogues, Ion yearbooks, and News Letters from the college are available through one of the news banks. The Mexico Ledger and The Daily News and Intelligencer covered school events.
History
Hardin College was founded in 1873 by Charles Hardin, state senator and later governor of Missouri. In 1901 Walter Williams describes it as “one of the largest, oldest and best boarding schools for young women in Missouri.” Also in 1901, the University of Missouri recognized Hardin as the first junior college in Missouri. It was affiliated with the Baptist Church.
The 1910 catalog shows a student body of 229, including high school girls. Most students were from Missouri. Hardin sponsored a chapter of the Y.M.C.A. Its Conservatory of Music produced a glee club and an orchestra. In addition to the Athletic Association, there was a riding club and a skating club. The Pierian and the Delphian literary societies later led to a team in the state Junior College Debating Association. The Dramatics Club performed Pygmalion in 1920. Among discipline-based clubs were those for mathematics, Spanish, Civics and French.
Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor sorority, was begun at Hardin College in 1918. By 1924 Hardin also had chapters of five social sororities. It enjoyed a good relationship with Missouri Military Academy, involving social events.
Hardin College offered three courses of study. The Literary course was a standard academic course including history, mathematics, and science as well as language and literature. The Fine Arts course had its focus in the Conservatory of Music, but also included art, expression and physical culture. The Vocational course included home economics, business, and education. The 1918 commencement showed 18 Literary graduates, nine Fine Arts graduates, and seven Vocational graduates.
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Hardin College entered the Great Depression with an indebtedness of $300,000 and was unable to recover.
Bricks and Mortar
Governor Hardin provided ten acres of land in south Mexico, including the former Christian Seminary building, constructed in 1858 of hand-hewn oak logs. Hardin Hall was added in 1874. Measuring 48x60 feet, with distinctive turrets, the three-story brick structure contained an auditorium, classrooms, and dormitory rooms.
A new gymnasium came in 1915. With a maple floor, it served as a basketball venue for local high schools and even area colleges. It also contained the studios and practice rooms for the music department. Richardson Hall (1923), a two-story brick structure, became the new dormitory. The school’s showpiece was Presser Hall, home of the Conservatory of Music, dedicated in 1927. Like other campus buildings it was made of brick with stone trim. Four stories, it had seven large studios, 28 practice studios, and an auditorium with 1200 seats.
Hardin Hall was razed in 1939. Richardson Hall and the gymnasium passed to the Mexico school district. After serving as a city-owned venue for sports and music, a deteriorating Presser Hall was purchased by a private foundation in 1989. It has since been renovated and the Presser Arts Center added in 2007 .
(Left) Google image of Presser Hall and Arts Center. Richardson Hall is just visible on the right.
Sports
School Colors: Black and Gold
Required physical culture classes at Hardin College emphasized health, physical development, and posture-- with a focus on stamping out the “debutante slouch.” But by 1919 Hardin had an athletic association, the largest club in school. This sponsored intramural swimming, field hockey, soccer, tennis, volleyball, and basketball. It awarded points for participation and performance, leading to an athlete of the year title.
The first newspaper account of a school basketball team is from 1908, when a Hardin team lost to the local high school 32-18. In 1916 the women’s junior colleges in Missouri began to organize competition in basketball, along with tennis, and track. Dorothy Holmes of Hardin won the initial state tennis singles title.
From 1916 through 1926 Hardin played a basketball schedule against area high schools and colleges such as Howard-Payne, Drury, Central and Central Wesleyan colleges. The undefeated1919 team claimed the state championship. But by 1926 most colleges in Missouri had dropped women’s basketball, and so did Hardin.
1912 Basketball team. Image from the catalog.
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