The Crozer Theological Seminary was a

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

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

located in

Upland, Pennsylvania Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven-member borough council. The population was 3,239 at the 2010 census, up from 2,974 at the 2000 census. Geography Upland is located in s ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary from 1948 to 1951, and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree. In 1970, the seminary merged with the Rochester Theological Seminary, forming the

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History 1820s-1960: Early history Four Baptist institutions merged over the course of the 19th and 20t ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

and the Old Main building was subsequently used as office space by Crozer Hospital (now part of the Crozer-Chester Medical Center.) The Old Main building is a three-story, "F"-shaped,

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

coated stone building with three pavilions connected by a corridor with flanking rooms. Each of the pavilions is topped by a gable roof and

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fr ...

, the largest cupola being on the central pavilion. ''Note:'' This includes The seminary's grounds are now the Crozer Arboretum. The Old Main building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1973.

History

Crozer Chester Medical Center Campus Map

Lewis House at Crozer Theological Seminary

The Seminary began as the

Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

of Upland, established and built by the president of the board of directors of the

American Baptist Publication Society The American Baptist Publication Society is a historic building at 1420–1422 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1896 on the site of the former headquarters of the American Baptist Publication Society, which had be ...

John Price Crozer John Price Crozer (January 13, 1793 – March 11, 1866) was an American textile manufacturer, banker, president of the board of directors of the American Baptist Publication Society, and philanthropist from Pennsylvania. His mills produced cloth ...

. After the outbreak of the

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

, the school was closed. Crozer allowed the

Union army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

to use the building as a hospital during the Civil War. The hospital contained a thousand beds and accommodated 300 nurses, attendants and guards. The patients were almost exclusively Union soldiers except for after the

battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of th ...

, in July 1863, when the number of wounded and sick

Confederate army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

soldiers left on the battlefield required their acceptance at the hospital. During the war, more than 6,000 patients were treated. Many of the dead from the hospital were some of the first burials at nearby

Chester Rural Cemetery Chester Rural Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery founded in March 1863 in Chester, Pennsylvania. Some of the first burials were Civil War soldiers, both Union and Confederate, who died at the government hospital located at the nearby building ...

. After the war, the building was repossessed by Crozer and subsequently sold to Colonel Theodore Hyatt for usage as the

Pennsylvania Military Academy Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded as The Bullock School for Boys in 1821, the school ...

until 1868. After Crozer's death in 1866, his family converted the school to the Crozer Theological Seminary in his honor. His son recruited faculty for the new mission. The seminary served as an

American Baptist Church The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/ evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered ma ...

school, training seminarians for entry into the

ministry from 1868 to 1970. In 1970 the school moved to

, in a merger that formed the

. The old seminary building was used as the former Crozer Hospital (now the Crozer-Chester Medical Center). The building is currently used as administrative offices for the Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

Campus

The multi-acre campus contains the Crozer Arboretum and the following buildings: *Humpstone *President's House *Pollard House *CHEC *Evans House *Crozer Hall *Neisser House *Lewis House *Vedder House *Davis House *Sunnyside House *Westin House *Franklin House

Pearl Hall

Pearl Hall is a serpentine stone library on the campus which opened on June 4, 1871. The building was sponsored by William Bucknell, the benefactor of

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineerin ...

, in memory of his late wife Margaret Crozer, the daughter of John Price Crozer. In addition to the $30,000 cost of the building, Bucknell also gave $25,000 for the cost of books and $10,000 for an endowment fund.

Notable alumni

* George Barbier, actor * J. Pius Barbour, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Chester, Pennsylvania, executive director of the National Baptist Association, editor of the National Baptist Voice, mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., first African-American graduate of Crozer Theological Seminary * John Warren Davis, New Jersey politician and federal judge, taught Greek and Hebrew at Crozer Theological Seminary for three years *

William Augustus Jones Jr. William Augustus Jones Jr. (February 24, 1934 – February 4, 2006) was an African-American Minister and Civil Rights leader. Biography Reverend Dr. William Augustus Jones Jr. was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Mary Elisabeth Jones and Wi ...

, minister and civil rights leader *

, Baptist minister and civil rights leader * Samuel D. Proctor, minister, educator and humanitarian

Notable faculty

* John Warren Davis, taught Hebrew and Greek for three years * Lemuel Moss, professor of New Testament *

James B. Pritchard James Bennett Pritchard (October 4, 1909 – January 1, 1997) was an American archeologist whose work explicated the interrelationships of the religions of ancient Palestine, Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. Pritchard was honored with the Go ...

, taught in the chair of Old Testament History and Exegesis * Henry Clay Vedder, professor of Church history

References

External links

Uplandboro.org history of Crozer theological seminary Bulletin of The Crozer Theological Society, Volumes 1-3
{{authority control 1867 establishments in Pennsylvania American Civil War hospitals Educational institutions established in 1867 Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Schools in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Seminaries and theological colleges in Pennsylvania