Ward Academy

Lewis Camfield organized the school because the young people of his Congregational parish could not easily reach the church's college at Yankton, and he named it for that college's founder. Joseph Ward had come to Yankton in 1869, built a private academy into Dakota's first high school, presided over Yankton College and wrote the state motto, Under God the People Rule, before dying on December 11, 1889, weeks after statehood. Ward Academy opened with 23 students and peaked at 148 in 1911. It closed in 1931, the year Camfield retired.

What the plaque says

To the memory of Dr. Lewis E. and Ella Woodman Camfield Founders of Ward Academy at this site in 1893 Dedicated their lives to the building of Christian character through church and school Erected in 1946 Camfield Memorial Association Lewis Emerson Camfield 1860 - 1941 Pioneer missionary Inspiring preacher Beloved teacher Trusted friend Practical idealist Ella Woodman Camfield 1863 - 1923 Devoted wife and mother Sympathetic guide to youth Community leader Wise counselor Woman of letters

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dignity of Earth and Sky — 26 mi
  A fifty-foot stainless-steel Lakota woman on the bluff above the Missouri, her star quilt made of 128 blue diamonds that shiver in the wind.

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