Centre, New York, who, in 1868, was assigned by the American Home Missionary Society to “preach the Bible and open the new frontier” in Yankton and the surrounding area as part of the recently organized Congregational Church, an endeavor he and his wife, Sarah, accomplished. His assignment did not stop there. Ward had attended prestigious schools in the East (Phillips Academy, Brown University and the Andover Theological Seminary) and he dreamed of bringing their caliber of higher education to the new land, as his second mission. Other territorial leaders joined Ward in this dream, traveling in harsh conditions over the Territory prairies to elect the first board of trustees, grant a charter and create the Articles of Incorporation that included the establishment of eleven ambitious professorships: Moral and Intellectual Philosophy and Theology; Latin Language and Literature; Greek Language and Literature; Physics and Astronomy; Rhetoric, English Literature and Elocution; Modern Languages; Music and Painting; Chemistry and Mineralogy; Geology and Natural History; Mathematics and Civil Engineering; and History and Political Economy. For the campus site, twenty-acres were donated and members of Ward’s congregation pledged most of the seed money, beginning a long history of financial support from the Congregational parishioners. By the end of the first year, 41 students had signed up to attend classes in a three-room house located at 417 Walnut while the first building, Middle Hall, later known as the Conservatory of Music, was under construction on the bare bluff, then located north of the town. Ward was inaugurated as the first president of Yankton College upon completion of the permanent structure and gave the remainder of his life to the college and to other historic YC athletics circa 1958 developments. During those first years, “Christ for the World” became the college motto, the Yankton Student, the college newspaper appeared Joseph Ward 1871 and two student organizations, the Literary Society for men and the Aristonian for women (a literary society) were formed. The Athlon Club (later known as the Y-Club) was created to foster athletic interest for young men and the extra-curricular activities included debate and baseball by the time Edward Hinman Pound, the first and only YANKTON COLLEGE continued on page 10 HERVOICE MARCH/APRIL 2014 v 9