Color postcard (14 x 9 cm.) with an exterior view of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, located at 3303 North 21st Street in Omaha, Nebraska. The seminary building was erected in 1902. It is a gray stone building three stories high with basement windows visible. There is a bell tower above the middle section.
The Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha was established on February 17, 1891. From 1895-1902 it was located in the former Cozzens Hotel at 9th & Harney Streets. In 1901 the Seminary purchased five acres in Kountze Place at 3303 North 21st Place for $20,000 and by 1902 the building seen in this view was erected with dormitory rooms on the two top floors, class rooms, offices, library and chapel on the main floor, dining room, janitor's quarters and other rooms in the basement. In 1909 the University of Omaha was established a few blocks from the Seminary and most of the teachers were recruited from Seminary faculty. In 1943 the general assembly of the United States Presbyterian Church voted to close the seminary on the grounds that it was not financially self-sustaining and it had failed to meet the minimum accreditation standards of the American Association of Theological Schools. Although the seminary was discontinued in 1943 its governing board continued to exist for several decades afterwards, turning the seminary building into an apartment house and raising money for student loans for theological students attending school elsewhere. Sources: Hawley, Charles Arthur, "Fifty Years on the Nebraska Frontier: A History of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha." Omaha: Ralph Printing Company, 1941; "Presbyterian Seminary Is Discontinued." Omaha World-Herald, May 29, 1943.; Cattau, Daniel. "Closed Seminary Still Has Clout in Presbyterian Church." Omaha World-Herald, August 13, 1978.
