Before Whitman became an official college in 1882, it opened its doors as Whitman Seminary in 1866. The Reverend Cushing Eels obtained the charter for the school in 1859 to honor his friends and colleagues, missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, who were killed by Cayuse Native Americans in 1847.
Contrary to some present student-held beliefs, the school did not open as the kind of seminary which prepares students for ministry. Seminary instead meant only that school served as a pre-collegiate academy.
However, that is not to say that Whitman Seminary did not have religious roots.
According to G. Thomas Edwards’ “The Triumph of Tradition,” the school was founded primarily with the support of Congregationalists and the Congregational Church. Founders omitted any denomination in the charter, yet because the first trustees were Congregationalists who would be able to elect new trustees, many considered Whitman a Congregational school. Students were instructed by pastors, and chapel and church services were required.
Due to financial trouble, the seminary closed its doors for occasional semesters throughout its 16-year lifespan.
“The idea of going to a college in 1882 in a sense was a way of sort of seeing if the community could sort of salvage this institution,” said Professor of Religion Rogers Miles.
The concept of a college in Walla Walla gained more vocal and monetary support than the seminary did.
“In a Christian College, you will train teachers who will be of high moral character, who will then go off to the public schools and train students, hopefully inculcating a high moral character, which will be important in a republic,” said Miles, describing the idea of virtuous republicanism of the 19th century. “Without religion, you wouldn’t breed citizens who would have the requisite self restraint to engage in democracy.”
In the College’s early years, chapel and church service were also required, as were theology and religious classes.
But Miles said that in the early 20th century, private liberal arts colleges began to move in the same direction.
“There was this slow erosion of the idea of a Christian College. And I think that the actual term Christian College got removed from the Constitution maybe in the 1970s,” Miles said.
Even when Whitman was a Christian College, however, Miles said that the college was still liberal in religious matters, as there wasn’t any religious test required to teach at Whitman.
“If I were to go get a job at Whitworth today, I would have to sign something that would attest to my Christian faith,” Miles said. “There was never any test at Whitman College. There were even Jewish faculty members under [Stephen] Penrose.”
Many students are only vaguely aware of Whitman’s religious roots, reflecting the fact that it is not emphasized on campus.
“That part of Whitman is never talked about,” said sophomore Anastassia Kolosova. “All we ever hear about is the massacre and the fact that they [the Whitmans] existed.”
“I’m one of those people who doesn’t know anything about Whitman except what Whitman tells me,” Kolosova added.
“Whitman has a really long and interesting history,” said sophomore Allison Gill. “Religion is a part of that, and I think it’s valuable for us to learn about that past.”
