Today I found a key camouflaged against the walls of the Key Room. This is the key to the Cherokee Female Seminary, donated to the Baldpate Key Room in 1936.
After being removed from their home, the Cherokee Nation settled in modern-day Oklahoma. The newly developed Cherokee syllabary (a set of written characters, similar to the alphabet) and establishment of a printing press allowed for the publishing of a national newspaper in both Cherokee and English. By the 1890s, the literacy rate of the Cherokee Nation was higher than both Arkansas and Texas. The increasing investment in education and literacy led to the creation of schools of higher learning (similar to a modern-day Prep high school).The cornerstone for the Seminary was laid in 1847. This was the first school of higher-learning for women west of the Mississippi River. The Women's Seminary officially opened in 1851 and tuition was $45 a year. The first graduating class of 1856 consisted of 26 women who studied Latin, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, and Music.
The school closed due to border conflicts and financial distress during the Civil War. By the mid 1870s, the Cherokee nation was able to renovate the Seminary and hire additional teachers. To attract more students, the Seminary began to admit students from other tribes, admission requirements were reduced, and the Nation created primary schools for introductory education.
On Easter Sunday 1887, a fire demolished the building. It was able to reopen two years later just north of Tahlequah. Although the school offered an education significantly better than those provided by the state of Oklahoma, in 1907 federal officials began to systemically reduce the authority of tribal government over many facets of their lives, including education. The Seminary was sold to the State of Oklahoma in 1909 to join the state college system.
After being obtained by Oklahoma, the Cherokee Female Seminary was renamed Northeaster State Normal School, where teachers were trained. The school later broadened it's curriculum to include baccalaureate degrees for secondary school teachers.
The Cherokee Women's Seminary is now Northeastern State University, and over 25% of students are Native American. The university offers Cherokee Language Education as a major and offers language courses in Cherokee.
Needless to say, this key holds some serious history. The power of education transcends time. Though it is sad to see the honorable Cherokee Female Seminary is no longer in existence, it is heartening to know the traditions of the Cherokee Nation are able to live on, to some extent, at the Seminary's successor.
Written By: Maddie Anderson
