MLC Legacy

Did you see the article in our local paper? 📰
We're keeping the legacy alive! Join us in 2 weeks for Family and Friends Day, our first fund raiser.🕊

Morris L. Collins Legacy Committee

The Morris L. Collins Legacy Committee was developed after the passing of the beloved teacher, husband, father, and minister who passed away in 2019. In an effort to keep alive his vision, and overall mission in life, the committee would like to continue working on many of the efforts he was passionate about.
The historic Howard School held an important place in the community of Warrensburg, and its restoration efforts were one of Morris’ great passions. As one of our first goals, this committee seeks to honor the importance of such an impactful school, while memorializing Morris, and others who helped pave the way for so many. Please help us spread the word about this important effort and be on the lookout for ways you can donate and help.

In The Beginning
The Howard School had its beginning in 1867, when Cynthia Ann Reed Briggs and the Rev. M. Henry Smith from the American Missionary Association purchased a Lot 14 in Rentch's Addition in Warrensburg for the sum of $100.23. Funding for this lot and subsequent school building was accomplished with African American assistance alone. The new one-room, 32'x24' frame building cost $1,001.90 and when half-completed, accepted assistance from the Freedmen's Bureau in the amount of $800 to finish the structure. Grateful for the assistance, the school's sponsors decided to call it Howard School, in honor of General Oliver O. Howard, Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. The Howard School was the newly established Warrensburg School District's first school building, opening in August, 1867. Rev. M. Henry Smith was named by the School Board to take charge of the city's black schools and served as principal and teacher in the school. In 1871, Smith resigned his post to become the first President of Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri's first African American institution of higher learning.
1888-1955
Attendance grew from an average daily attendance of 45 black students in 1867 to well over 100 students by 1870. After renting space in several buildings on the west side of town to help accommodate the exploding black student population, and prodding from the black community and a few vocal citizens, the Board of Education, on May 21, 1888, approved plans for the construction of a new school building consisting of three rooms. When the State Department of Education adopted new requirements for the accreditation and classification of schools in 1948, Howard School could not meet the new higher standards. After failing twice to secure approval for a bond issue that would have upgraded the Howard School, The Warrensburg School Board voted to discontinue the school's high school program. They agreed to transport any qualified African-American high school students to CC Hubbard High School located 28 miles to the east in Sedalia. In later years the school continued solely as a grade school, closing in 1955, as a result of the integration of schools in America.