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It’s back-to-school time, so we recognize the old Scarritt Bible & Training Institute.
Established in 1890 as a school for girls, the Scarritt Bible & Training Institute was located at Harris (now Norledge) and Askew avenues in Historic Northeast, Kansas City.
Rev. Nathan Scarritt donated land worth $15,000, as well as a $25,000 cash gift to start the fledgling college two years after he founded the Melrose Methodist Church two blocks away. An additional $25,000 was to be raised by the Women’s Board of Missions for the building of the school.
The first graduating class in 1894 numbered a whopping five people. Belle Harris Bennett, a noted U.S. Methodist leader, assisted in founding the Institute and taught there for a period of time.
In “Belle Harris Bennett — Her Lifes Work,” author Mrs. R.W. MacDonell gives an account of Dr. Scarritts generous gift: “On the sabbath evening during my visit, we walked over to the beautiful hilltop overlooking the Missouri River and Kansas City, Kan. Dr. Scarritt said to me, ‘If you like this, I will give you here whatever you think is necessary for the establishment of a training school.'”
In 1924, the school moved to Nashville, Tenn., to be part of Vanderbilt University and Peabody Bible College. In later years, the stately school was razed and single family homes, mostly bungalows, were built on the site.
Sadly, the original church sponsor of the old Scarritt school, Melrose United Methodist Church, has closed its doors effective June of this year. An 124-year history in Northeast has drawn to a quiet close. This postcard was published by the Elite Postcard company of Kansas City, Mo. It was never mailed.
Michael Bushnell
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