George R. Smith College was a Historically Black College located in Sedalia, Missouri, it was attended by the famed and prolific American ragtime-music piano composer Scott Joplin famous for the piano music piece "Maple Leaf Rag." The institution was associated with the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society of the Methodist Church and played an important role in the lives of young people for several decades.
According to the Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri by Howard Conrad, the building was completed in 1882. The college operated from 1894 until it burned down in April 26, 1925, after which its assets were merged with the Philander Smith College in 1933. A photograph of George R Smith College, with students, can be found among the references listed here.
Notable alumni
Myrtle Craig Mowbray, first African American woman to graduate from Michigan State University, in 1907 Scott Joplin, ragtime music piano composer Arthur Marshall, ragtime composer and contemporary of Scott Joplin Homer G. Phillips, prominent lawyer and civil rights advocate T. Manuel Smith, president of the National Medical Association (1942 to 1943)
Presidents
P. A. Cool, 1894-1897
E. A. Robertson, 1897-1902
I. L. Lowe, 1902-1907
A. C. Maclin, 1907-1910
J. C. Sherrill, 1910-1912
George Evans, 1912-1914
Matthew Simpson Davage, 1914-1916, later served as president of Haven Institute, Samuel Huston College, Rust College, and Clark University Robert B. Hayes, 1916-1925