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Company Commander, B. Company, Kemper Military School 1965.The History of Kemper Military School
Kemper Military School and College was founded as The Kemper Family School on Monday, June 3, 1844. For 150 years it has produced alumni who have become leaders throughout the nation and the world. As the oldest military school west of the Mississippi it remains dedicated to providing a structured environment where self-discipline, time management, duty, academic excellence, and leadership are the primary goals. Its alumni are located throughout the world in leadership positions in every field and profession.
Frederick T. Kemper was born in Madison County, Virginia. His family arrived in the first great wave of German immigrants to America in the early 18th century. Professor Kemper's early academic experiences were through private tutors and small schools in the Tidewater area of Virginia. He left the family farm in 1836 to complete his education at Marion College, located near Palmyra, Missouri. He studied there for five years and graduated as valedictorian in the class of 1841. He remained at Marion for three years as an instructor.
In 1843, he opened a private boarding school with his uncle in Philadelphia, Missouri. The school lasted only one year in its Marion County location, as Mr. Kemper was induced to move to Boonville in the spring of 1844.
The first school was a one-room affair on the corner of Spring and Main Streets. Founded by Frederick Thomas Kemper (1816-1881) as an all-male school to educate the sons of the frontier west, The Kemper Family School opened with just five students, but by the fall of 1844 it had a student population of 50. The first year being such a success, Mr. Kemper had the south wing of the current Administration Building constructed in 1845, and utilized the site as both a boarding and classroom building. Operating the school essentially by himself as a boarding school for local boys, it changed its name with#
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