Grenada College was a college for women, founded by

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

s, in

Grenada, Mississippi Grenada is a city in Grenada County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 13,092 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Grenada County. History Grenada was formed in 1836, after federal removal of the Choctaw people who ha ...

in 1850. It opened as Yalobusha Female Institute in 1851 and was also known as the Emma Mercer Institute and the Grenada Female College.

Yalobusha Female Institute

The college was established on November 30, 1850 by an act of the Mississippi state legislature and was named the Yalobusha Female Institute. Its first president was Dr. W. S. Webb, who served until 1857. Yalobusha was intended by Mississippi legislators to become the preeminent women's institution in the South and to draw students from throughout the region. It was given a budget that funded such amenities as the largest telescope in its surrounding states and a dormitory for 150 students. Enrollment began in 1851, with 77 students of various Christian denominations attending Yalobusha from September through the end of June 1852. Classes were held in the Union Hotel in Grenada, and also in the College Inn at 123 S. College Street. The college subsequently raised enough money for a building, which was completed by 1858.

Emma Mercer Institute

Yalobusha closed during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

and its buildings were used for hospitals. At the end of the war, Mrs. Emma Holcombe purchased the school building and its property, reopening it in 1866. No later than August 1867, Holcombe renamed the school Emma Mercer Institute. Under Holcombe's leadership, the Emma Mercer Institute emphasized "sound learning, without pretense and show" and "discipline and order, enforced by firmess, and courtesy." A full renovation was completed in 1870 and the school re-committed itself to Southern women's education. By 1875, financial problems had struck. The local

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austr ...

unsuccessfully attempted to buy the institute and turn it into an industrial school. A stock company purchased the property and turned the school into the Grenada Female College.

Grenada College

In June 1882, Grenada Female College was placed for sale "to the highest bidder." It was purchased by the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

church, which renamed it Grenada College in 1884. As of 1915, the college granted both

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

and Bachelor of Letters degrees, and had 13 faculty members. In 1936, financial troubles led the church to close the school and transfer its assets to

Millsaps College Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webste ...

. The buildings were finally destroyed in the 1980s.

Notable faculty and alumnae

* George Robert Hightower *

Blanche Colton Williams Blanche Colton Williams (February 10, 1879 – August 9, 1944) was an American author, editor, department head and professor of English literature, and pioneer in women’s higher education. She was known for her “groundbreaking work on str ...

— author, head of the English department at Grenada College, and later head of the English department at Hunter College.

References

{{Millsaps College, state=autocollapse Defunct private universities and colleges in Mississippi Education in Grenada County, Mississippi Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Educational institutions established in 1850 Female seminaries in the United States Educational institutions disestablished in 1936 History of women in Mississippi Millsaps College 1851 establishments in Mississippi