Whitman Seminary was founded in 1859 by Reverend Cushing Eells, a missionary and early settler in the Washington Territory, to honor the legacy of Dr. Marcus Whitman. Located in Walla Walla, the Seminary served as one of the region’s first formal educational institutions. It functioned as a coeducational preparatory school offering instruction in basic academic subjects and religious values. Though modest in size and often limited by funding and enrollment, it provided a critical foundation for higher education in the area.

The Seminary operated until 1882, when it was reorganized and officially became Whitman College under the leadership of Alexander Jay Anderson. This transition reflected a broader vision for liberal arts education in the Pacific Northwest and marked the beginning of the college’s formal identity as an institution of higher learning.

While records from the Seminary period, particularly between 1866 and 1882, are scarce, they reflect the earliest efforts to establish a meaningful academic presence in Walla Walla. These materials, housed in the Whitman College and Northwest Archives, document the transition from a small missionary academy to a developing college and offer insight into the educational goals and community values of the time.