Gem City Business College - The Gem Newspaper -Lot of 2 - Dec.1947 + Spring 1948 For Sale

History

Gem City Business College was founded in 1870 by D. L. Musselman, a Civil War veteran. It featured three departments: Banking and Actual Business, Normal Penmanship, and Shorthand and Typewriting. Each program was six months in length. The school’s goal was to provide the training to allow each student to become a high-end wage earner in a short period of time.

The 1900 catalog states that a common school education was sufficient for admission to the college. It cites one instance of a girl who had completed coursework for shorthand and typewriting and obtained employment before her fifteenth birthday. For graduation from the Banking and Actual Business Department students had to complete courses in bookkeeping, actual business practice, business penmanship, commercial law, business arithmetic, rapid calculation, business letter writing, business forms, and spelling—all at 85%.

The 1900 catalog shows a total enrollment of 856 from 33 states. Of these, 342 graduated that year. Faculty totaled 12.

Student activities included a mandolin club, a 29-member brass band, a male quartet, and a college literary society. The college chartered two excursion boats to take students down to Hannibal for a football game. During another year, the school chartered a train to take students to Kirksville for a game.

After World War II Gem City suffered the fate of other business colleges. Four-year colleges and university began adding business departments, and employers began looking for college degrees as conditions for employment or advancement. Also students began asking for more from college beyond job training, so enrollments at business colleges fell. In 1961 Gem City Business College acquired the horology department from Bradley University and added the Quincy School of Cosmetology in 1975,in the processbecoming Gem City College

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Thanks for stopping ....yep...she was a proud graduate....