History
A few short decades after the Civil War, in September 1887, a few men representing 18 Baptist churches gathered in a little, weather-beaten country church in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. It was the annual meeting of the Mount Zion Association in a region with only one or two small schools that offered only a high school education.
Although these few men had only a meager common school education and some scarcely even that, they, nevertheless, felt the responsibility of providing some means of higher education for the children of Kentucky.
Like Abraham of old, the founding fathers began their journey with precious little more than faith and a promise. Little did they know that their vision would shortly catch the eye of men like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, both of whom initially supported the college through their philanthropy.
This was but the beginning of famous names associated with the college, including William Jennings Bryan, Duncan Hines, Bing Crosby, Henry Clay Frick and many others. Actually, Dr. Ancil Gatliff, a local physician, along with other local residents such as J. P. Mahan, J. W. Siler, E. S. Moss, T. B. Mahan, R. C. Medaris and A. T. Siler must be given much credit for getting the college underway.
The institution has produced two governors, five military generals, an admiral, five college and university presidents, a Congressman, ministers, missionaries, legislators, judges, a host of medical doctors and attorneys, teachers and the list goes on.
The Cumberland College campus is nestled in the mountains of Kentucky and located on four hills in the city of Williamsburg. This college, one of America’s unique institutions, is located near the Cumberland River, Cumberland Falls and Cumberland Gap. The green, manicured campus is old, spacious and pastoral, with 20 buildings, most of which were built or acquired in the last 30 years and five of which are older but well-kept. The buildings are a blend of Antebellum, Edwardian and historic Williamsburg Architecture. The campus is unsurpassed with steeples sweeping up to the glory of God. At times clouds almost seem to surround the campus.
Cumberland is one of those almost extinct colleges: a small college, intimate and concerned in a setting of almost incomparable beauty. Meticulous would be the key word to describe the physical facilities, largely because of a grand maintenance staff supported by student labor. The college has remained true to its founding purpose: “To provide a first class education at rates that are compatible with the means of mountain people.”
