SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SCHOOL’S FIRST CENTURY AND A HALF
Park University is celebrating a century and a half of history, with memories that reverberate in the historic Park University majestically perched amid the Missouri River bluffs in Parkville.
Established in 1875 by three early settlers on land acquired after the opening of the Platte Purchase, Park College’s original purpose is revealed by its original name: “Park College for Training Christian Workers.”
Each of the three men who founded the college brought something different to the cause, from land to religious backgrounds. While today’s area residents are aware that Park University has a long history here, some may not know of the significance of those who taught and studied amid the historic structures and how they mesh with some of the country’s most well-known historic events.
University officials hosted an anniversary celebration earlier this month. Below are some highlights of Park’s history as excerpted from the university’s publication, “Fides es Labor: 140 Years of Pioneering Education-the Park University Story,” which was published in recognition of the university’s 140th anniversary in 2015:
Famous Titanic Passengers
·Albert, Sylvia Caldwell and their infant son, Alden, represent a family with an unusual claim as they are among the few entire families who survived the sinking of the Titanic. The family’s story is recounted in the book “A Rare Titanic Family: “The Caldwells’ Story of Survival,” written by a Caldwell descendant, who met and interviewed Albert before his great uncle’s death at age 91.
Albert and Sylvia, both 1909 Park College graduates who married and traveled to what is now Thailand as teaching missionaries. But the couple was forced to return to America just two years into their seven-year stint after Sylvia became ill and it was all complicated by the birth of their son. Originally planning to board the Carpathia, the couple decided to travel on the Titanic since it was larger and less likely to worsen Sylvia’s seasickness. Although originally denied tickets due to a full load, the couple eventually boarded second class after a cancellation.
When the couple realized the sinking of the Titanic was inevitable, they all three boarded one of the ship’s tiny life rafts from where they were rescued and made their way back home to Illinois.
There were several ties to both world wars:
World War I
·George S. Robb, a White man who graduated from Park in 1912, received the Medal of Honor for his leadership of the “Harlem Hellfighters,” an all- Black New York national guard unit.
World War II
·The Midwest became pivotal in a relocation order of Japanese Americans from the West coast further inland. While this area had no incarceration camps, area residents reacted to decisions of officials with academic institutions to enroll Nisei students, or those who were born in the U.S. or Canada but had Japanese immigrant parents. In 1942, such was the case at Park, coined the “Battle of Parkville” or “The Parkville Controversy,” where area residents were very unhappy with the then-college president’s decision to enroll such students. Herbert A. Dyer, then mayor of Parkville, led the resistance.
Census records show that Kansas City had very few Japanese American residents and, since Parkville’s population at the time was about 600, this likely marked the community’s first exposure to this group.
Some famous people are among Park’s graduates:
·Anthony Melchiorri, a 1990 graduate, is one of several alumni to achieve star status recognition, is the co-host/creator of the Travel Channel’s “Hotel Impossible” show and was a keynote speaker at Park’s first ever virtual commencement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
·At least one Park graduate and perhaps two others, played a role in the development and testing of the World War II atomic bomb. Hugh Richards was a 1939 Park graduate and nuclear physicist. He led a group of scientists who recorded the neutron measurements of the bomb’s first test, known as the Trinity.
A copy of Richards’ memoirs resides in the archives at Park and details how this man, who went on to earn several higher degrees at other educational institutions, is credited with developing special cameras to test “and measure radio activity of fission fragments,” according to the memoir.
·Joseph McKibben may also have been involved due to a letter to his fellow Park alums in which he wrote that, as the time approached to test the bomb, more personnel were needed. McKibbens reported that he was tasked with “closing all the switches that detonated the first bomb,” he wrote.
A 1985 United Press International (UPI) article credited McKibben with throwing the switch that set off the first ever explosion. John Cory, a 1942 Park graduate supervised a group of those tasked with creating and perfecting an accelerator and another who created a light source for a system of cameras used to record the blast. Cory’s obituary mentioned his involvement. However, Park Archivist Timothy Westcott said he was unable to verify such claims through research of Park documents
Military Veterans
·When Timothy Westcott, Ph.D., contacts an ancestor of a military veteran, he delivers news that’s more than a century overdue. The director of the George S. Robb Centre (named for a first lieutenant and 1912 Park alum) for the Study of the Great War shares with descendants how the center is nominating their ancestor for the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest recognition for acts of valor.
A three-member staff researches heroic acts of veterans who were Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American and Jewish for the Valor Medals Review. Because the three have no authority to grant such awards, they contact the Secretary of the Army or Navy, who can choose to start the process of posthumous recognition.
The centre, established in 2005, includes names, short biographies, and photos of those researched and forwarded to the military for honors. Their work is documented at gsr.park.edu and includes digitizing Great War artifacts and facilitating educational programming in partnership with Park, the university’s website states. The centre’s work earns national media coverage, including on CBS Evening News.
Solar Eclipse
·A nearly 75-second solar eclipse at the campus gets live national media coverage on National Public Radio (NPR).
Peace Prize
·Steve Youngblood was awarded the 2020 Luxembourg Peace Prize for Outstanding Peace Journalism. The associate professor of communication arts and director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism was selected as a Fulbright Scholar in 2023. It was the third time Youngblood had received the award, including in 2001 and 2007.
Music Focus
·In 2003, The International Center for Music is established, and many students are awarded for their competition performances, both nationally and internationally.
Sports Accolades
·The men’s and women’s volleyball teams earn National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) titles in 2014.
