Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

{{Short description|Historic Lutheran seminary, merged into United Lutheran Seminary in 2017}} {{Full citations needed|date=August 2022}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox university | name = Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Gburg Seminary NE.JPG | image_upright = | image_alt = | caption = The 1832 "Old Dorm" (now known as Schmucker Hall) was used as the "Seminary Hotel" for dignitaries at the 50th battle anniversary in 1913.<ref name=Beitler>{{Cite report |last=Beitler |first=Lewis Eugene (editor and compiler) |date=December 31, 1913 |title=Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg: Report of the Pennsylvania Commission |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swkTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA49 |via=Google Books |location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |publisher=Wm. Stanley Bay (state printer)|accessdate=2011-08-11 }}</ref>{{Rp|49}} A colonial-style portico was added to the southeast side in May 1914 to commemorate the reunion.<ref>{{cite news|title=First Memorial of Anniversary|date=May 16, 1914|newspaper=Adams County News|page=1|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DzhUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YjoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6392,3948778&dq=hackmen+gettysburg&hl=en|access-date=December 6, 2021}}]</ref><ref name="Dreese2002">{{cite book|author=Michael A. Dreese|title=The Hospital on Seminary Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFHr8ti5sAwC&pg=PA164|year=2002|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-1224-2|page=164}}</ref> | latin_name = | other_name =  | former_name = Gettysburg Seminary | motto = | motto_lang = | mottoeng = | top_free_label = | top_free = | type = Seminary | established = {{start date|1826}} | closed = {{end date|2017}} | founder = Samuel Simon Schmucker (General Synod) | parent = | affiliation = Washington Theological Consortium<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Institutions of the Washington Theological Consortium |publisher=Washington Theological Consortium |url=http://www.washtheocon.org/members.html |accessdate=August 15, 2011}}</ref> | religious_affiliation = Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | academic_affiliation = | endowment = | budget = | officer_in_charge = | chairman = | chairperson = | chancellor = | president = | vice-president = | superintendent = | vice_chancellor = | provost = | rector = | principal = | dean = | director = | head_label = | head = | academic_staff = | administrative_staff = | students = | undergrad = | postgrad = | doctoral = | other = | address = 61 Seminary Ridge | city = Gettysburg | state = Pennsylvania | country = United States | postcode = 17325 | coordinates = {{coord|39.83162|N|77.24433|W|display=inline,title}} | campus = | language = | free_label = Merged into | free = United Lutheran Seminary (2017) | free_label2 = | free2 = | colors =  | athletics = | sports = | athletics_nickname =  | sporting_affiliations = | mascot =  | sports_free_label = | sports_free = | sports_free_label2 = | sports_free2 = | website = http://www.unitedlutheranseminary.edu/ (formerly http://www.ltsg.edu) | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | footnotes = }}

The '''Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg''' ('''Gettysburg Seminary''') was a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It was one of seven ELCA seminaries, one of the three seminaries in the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries, and a member institution of the Washington Theological Consortium. It was founded in 1826 under prominent but controversial theologian and professor Samuel Simon Schmucker (1799-1873) for the recently organized General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States. The seminary was the oldest continuing Lutheran seminary in the United States until it was merged on July 1, 2017, after 189 years of operation, with the nearby and former rival Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia to form the United Lutheran Seminary. The new institution continues to use both campuses.

The Gettysburg Seminary served the church as a pioneer in theological education creating among Lutheran seminaries the first faculty position in Christian Education in 1926, the first teacher in sociology and psychology in 1942, and the first in stewardship in 1989. Gettysburg continued to add to its trail breaking in the American scene by granting tenure to a female professor, Bertha Paulssen, in 1945, and graduating, in 1965, the first woman to be ordained by an American Lutheran church body, Elizabeth Platz (graduated in 1965 and ordained in 1970). the seminary was also the first Lutheran seminary to admit an African American theological student and seminarian, Daniel Alexander Payne, in 1835, only nine years after its founding.

During the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War, the seminary, on a ridge northwest of the town, became a focal point of action on the first day of battle, July 1, 1863. The seminary gave its name to the now iconic Seminary Ridge, where the line of battle of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was formed for the later actions on the second and third days of the battle. The headquarters of commanding Gen. Robert E. Lee was established in a stone cottage across the northwest Cashtown Road.

==History== ===19th century=== At the 1820 formation of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States, its constitution specified that the synod form plans for a seminary or seminaries. Samuel Simon Schmucker, ordained in 1820, actively lobbied for the establishment of a seminary and began theological training for students at his parsonage in New Market, Virginia. After hearing Schmucker speak in 1824 about his efforts, the Maryland-Virginia Synod recommended to the General Synod in 1825 that a seminary be established.<ref>Gobbel, Roger with Matthews, Donald and Matthews, Elaine. On the Glorious Hill: A Short History in Word and Picture of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (subsequently 'On the Glorious Hill'). Lancaster: Pridemark Press, 1976, 5-6.(</ref>

The board of directors first met on March 2, 1826, in Hagerstown, Maryland, with the first order of business being to select a site for the seminary. They rejected proposals from Carlisle, Pennsylvania (at Dickinson College) and Hagerstown<ref name="GC1896">{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mOIyAAAAIBAJ&pg=1592,898517&dq=gettysburg+seminary&hl=en|title=The Gettysburg Seminary…History and Needs|date=August 18, 1896|newspaper=Gettysburg Compiler|accessdate=2011-08-11|format=Google News Archive|quote=''Gettysburg and the people of Adams county, including many from Hanover ''[in York Co.]'', offered $7,000 in cash, and the trustees of the old ''[Gettysburg]'' academy the use of that building.''}}</ref> and the "Gettysburg Theological Seminary"<ref>{{cite news |date=April 23, 1928 |title=Gettysburg Theological Seminary |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6YwlAAAAIBAJ&pg=3310,7609437&dq=gettysburg+seminary&hl=en |format=Google News Archives |newspaper=The Adams Sentinel |accessdate=2010-02-04}}</ref> was established on August 1, 1826.<ref>{{cite news |last=[Treasurer] |date=September 6, 1926 |title=Theological Seminary |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SpMlAAAAIBAJ&pg=4776,468286&dq=gettysburg+seminary&hl=en |format=Google News Archive |newspaper=The Republican Compiler |accessdate=2010-02-04}}</ref> Schmucker was elected the first professor and the seminary opened with eight<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, 1826-1965.|last=Wentz|first=Abdel Ross|publisher=Evangelical Press|year=1965|location=Harrisburg, PA|pages=130}}</ref> students on September 5, 1826,<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 18, 1926 |title=Gettysburg Seminary to Observe its Centenary |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S6YiAAAAIBAJ&pg=2923,1765292&dq=gettysburg-seminary+chapel&hl=en |format=Google News Archive |location=Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania |newspaper=The Daily Times |accessdate=2011-08-11 |quote=''the cupola of the seminary building was used as a lookout point by General Buford and General Reynolds''}}</ref> in the Gettysburg Academy building,<ref name="HMdb">{{Cite web |last=Swain |first=Craig |date=October 2, 2008 |title=First Home of Seminary and College |url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=12004 |format=HMdb.org webpage, marker 12004 |accessdate=2011-08-11 }}</ref> which had opened 1810.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beitel|first=Calvin Gustavus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zr0ZAAAAYAAJ&q=Gettysburg|title=A Digest of Titles of Corporations Chartered by the Legislature …|publisher=J. Campbell & son|year=1874|format=Google books|accessdate=2011-11-22}}</ref> In 1832, the seminary moved to its first building on the ridge west of the borough, the ridge now eing known as Seminary Ridge.<ref>{{cite web |editor-last=Joswick |editor-first=Dave |date=February–March 2008 |title=Buford's View: July 1, 1863 (advertisement) |work=www.gettysburgcompanion.com|publisher=Times and News Publishing Company |page=16}}</ref>

Following Schmucker, the seminary had "faculty chairmen" rather than presidents. The first seminary president, [http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp?t1=s&word=SINGMASTER.JOHNALDEN John Alden Singmaster], was designated in 1906.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of the Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary, 1826-1965|last=Wentz|first=Abdel Ross|publisher=Evangelical Press|year=1965|location=Harrisburg, PA|pages=414–416}}</ref>

====Role in the Battle of Gettysburg==== {{Further|Battle of Gettysburg}} [[File:Gettysburg Day1 1600.png|thumb|On July 1, 1863 at 4 p.m., the Army of the Potomac was positioned at the seminary.]] The Seminary building served as a lookout on July 1, 1863, the first day of battle. From the cupola, Brig. Gen. John Buford, commanding First Division, Cavalry Corps,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-03-18|title=Union - Cavalry Corps (AoP)|url=http://www.civilwararchive.com/CORPS/cavaop.htm|access-date=2021-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050318195649/http://www.civilwararchive.com/CORPS/cavaop.htm|archive-date=2005-03-18}}</ref> Army of the Potomac, observed the opening of the battle to the west of Seminary Ridge and witnessed the arrival of the I Corps under Maj. Gen. John Reynolds marching to his relief from the south.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.civilwarsignals.org/pages/talkingflags/cupola.html|title = Lutheran Seminary Cupola}}</ref>

By the late afternoon, the Union lines on McPherson's Ridge, west of the seminary, were forced back to Seminary Ridge by Confederate troops of Heth's and Pender's divisions. Before the troops could dig in on Seminary Ridge, a further attack by Pender's division broke the line. The I Corps streamed across Seminary Hill and through the town of Gettysburg, covered by a delaying action on the grounds by the famed Iron Brigade.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/gettysburg/getty13.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021203172454/http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/gettysburg/getty13.aspx |archive-date=2002-12-03 |url-status=dead |date=2000 |website=Military History Online |title=Day 1: July 1, 1863 - AP Hill at McPherson's Ridge |last=Williams |first=Brian}}</ref> The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia occupied the seminary grounds and held them until the Army's retreat on July 4, 1863.

There was no further infantry combat on the seminary grounds, but it continued to play a prominent role in the battle. The seminary building had begun to be used as a field hospital for soldiers of both armies during the first day, and this continued throughout the engagement and after the battle was over.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pacivilwartrails.com/stories/tales/lutheran-seminary-serves-as-hospital-at-gettysburg|title=Lutheran Seminary Serves as Hospital at Gettysburg | Pennsylvania Civil War Trails}}</ref> Artillery was posted on the hill and participated in action against Union artillery on Culp's and Cemetery Hills on July 2 and 3.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=15306|title = Dance's Battalion - First Virginia Artillery Historical Marker}}</ref><ref name="hmdb.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=15308|title = Cunningham's Battery - Dance's Battalion Historical Marker}}</ref>

Confederate soldiers ransacked the house of seminary President Schmucker, an outspoken abolitionist. Confederate troops also used the seminary building cupola as a lookout, although there is no hard evidence that General Robert E. Lee, whose headquarters were just across the Cashtown Road to the north of the seminary, ever entered the cupola.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seminaryridge.org/legacy.htm |title=Preserving the Legacies of Seminary Ridge |website=www.seminaryridge.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701145858/http://www.seminaryridge.org/legacy.htm |archive-date=2007-07-01}}</ref>

The seminary contains multiple commemorative markers and monuments along its main drive, called Seminary Ridge (formerly, Confederate Ave). The park commission had placed two Confederate 3" rifles,<ref>[http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=17990 Historical Marker Database]</ref> two other Confederate guns, and two Union 12-pounders ("False Napoleon")<ref name="HMdb" /> along the avenue by 1912.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gdg.org/Research/Authored%20Items/BCRReports/1911.html |title=1911 Report |access-date=2012-02-21 |archive-date=2012-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321172545/http://www.gdg.org/Research/Authored%20Items/BCRReports/1911.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Subsequent campus history ==== In 1868, some seminary land was purchased for the Gettysburg Springs Railroad (now Springs Avenue) and the faculty expanded{{Clarify|who was the 3rd|date=February 2012}} to a fourth professor (James W. Richard) in 1889.<ref name=GT1963>{{Cite news|date=1963 |via=Google News Archive |newspaper=The Gettysburg Times |publisher=Times and News Publishing Company |accessdate= |quote=''Old Dorm was used as an observation post first by General Reynolds''}}</ref> In 1895, during the battlefield commemorative era, the Gettysburg Park Commission telfordized the seminary's north–south avenue<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gdg.org/Research/Authored%20Items/BCRReports/1895.html |title=1895 Commission Report |access-date=2012-02-21 |archive-date=2012-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404025043/http://www.gdg.org/Research/Authored%20Items/BCRReports/1895.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> (resurfaced in 1927). In 1896, the seminary had two academic buildings, four professor dwellings, a hospital, and approximately {{Convert|38|acres|ha|abbr=on}}.<ref name="GC1896" />

The cornerstone of the Church of the Abiding Presence was laid in 1940<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5RFUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6863,408345&dq=seminary-chapel+gettysburg&hl=en|title=Lay Cornerstone On New Seminary Chapel; Elect Dr. Wentz 7th President|via=Google News Archive Search|publisher=Gettysburg Compiler|date=Sep 21, 1940|accessdate=25 November 2016}}</ref> and construction was completed in 1942.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ltsg.edu/Friends-Supporters/Crossroads-Campaign/Campaign-Resources/Chapel-RenewCamp2011_swpa |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-08-15 |archive-date=2011-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930214620/http://www.ltsg.edu/Friends-Supporters/Crossroads-Campaign/Campaign-Resources/Chapel-RenewCamp2011_swpa |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the World War II labor shortage, the seminary assisted with the county's 1942 apple harvest<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HiI_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2360,2776032&dq=gettysburg+theological+seminary&hl=en|title=Faculty, Students Help with Crops|date=Sep 19, 1942|accessdate=25 November 2016|publisher=The Windsor Daily Star|via=Google News Archive Search}}</ref> before German POWs became available, and a seminary auxiliary was organized in 1953.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5o8lAAAAIBAJ&pg=927,913085&dq=gettysburg+theological+seminary&hl=en|title=Auxiliary of Seminary will be organized|date=Apr 18, 1953|accessdate=25 November 2016|publisher=The Star and Sentinel|via=Google News Archive Search}}</ref>

In about 1960, the seminary purchased the nearby Elsie Singmaster Lewars home<ref name=GT1963/> and in 1961, the Adams County Historical Society moved from the courthouse basement<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fYslAAAAIBAJ&pg=1042,760181&dq=jacks-mountain+railroad&hl=en|title=Railroads are subject for Historians|publisher=The Star and Sentinel|date=May 1, 1943|via=Google News Archive Search|accessdate=25 November 2016}}</ref> to Old Dorm (added to the NRHP in 1974).<ref name="achs-pa1">{{cite web|url=http://www.achs-pa.org/headquarters/ |title=Headquarters: Brief History of Schmucker Hall |work=Adams County Historical Society |publisher=Achs-pa.org |accessdate=2010-06-01}}</ref> In 2011, the society moved into Wolf House, also owned by the seminary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.achs-pa.org/about-us|title=About Us — Adams County Historical Society.|website=achs-pa.org|access-date=2018-05-23}}</ref> The 2011 "Crossroads Campaign" planned $1.8 million of fundraising for chapel renovations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gettysburg Seminary Announces Matching Gift Opportunity |url=http://www.uss-elca.org/gettysburg-seminary-announces-matching-gift-opportunity |publisher=Upper Susquehanna Synod |accessdate=2012-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330195405/http://www.uss-elca.org/gettysburg-seminary-announces-matching-gift-opportunity |archive-date=2012-03-30}}</ref>

== Merger == In January 2016, the seminary's board announced a merger with the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.livinglutheran.org/2016/02/new-theology-school/|title=New theology school - Living Lutheran|date=2016-02-21|work=Living Lutheran|access-date=2018-05-23|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/two-lutheran-seminaries-to-close-and-reopen-as-new-school/2016/01/15/36ead0f6-bbd3-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html|title=Two Lutheran seminaries to close and reopen as new school|last=MacDonald|first=G. Jeffrey|date=2016-01-15|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-05-23|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> While originally planned as a closure of both schools with the formation of a new institution, that plan was canceled over accreditation issues<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://religionnews.com/2016/04/29/two-lutheran-seminaries-will-merge-instead-of-closing-forming-a-new-school/|title=Two Lutheran seminaries will merge instead of closing, forming a new school|last=MacDonald|first=G. Jeffrey|date=April 29, 2016|website=religionnews.com|publisher=Religion News Service|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-23}}</ref> and a merger of the two schools was completed 1 July 2017, under the name United Lutheran Seminary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://religionnews.com/2017/06/29/two-historic-pennsylvania-seminaries-become-united-lutheran-seminary-july-1/|title=Two historic Pennsylvania seminaries become United Lutheran Seminary July 1|last=Spangler|first=John|date=June 29, 2017|website=religionnews.com|publisher=Religion Press Release Service|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-23}}</ref>{{Commons category}}

==Notable alumni== *Cornelius L. Keedy (1834–1911), pastor, physician, and academic administrator *Daniel Payne (1811–1893), first ordained Black Lutheran pastor in the United States and leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church *Elizabeth Platz, first Lutheran woman ordained in the United States, (1970), served her entire active ministry as campus pastor at the University of Maryland. *William Morton Reynolds (1812–1876), minister, college president, and translator<ref>Richard W. Solberg, ''Lutheran Higher Education in North America'' (1885), p. 64; Townsend Ward, "Memorial notice of the Rev. William M. Reynolds, D. D." in ''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'', Vol. 1, p. 10</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

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<ref name=GT1963>{{Cite news |year=1963 |title=[tbd newspaper article]{{Specify|I lost my note with the url for this citation, and couldn't reproduce the search text I used to get it. The article includes the words "Hartwick", "James W. Richard", "Elsie Singmaster Lewars" etc. |date=February 2012}} |format=Google News Archive |newspaper=The Gettysburg Times |publisher=Times and News Publishing Company |accessdate=2012-02-21 |quote=''Old Dorm was used as an observation post first by General Reynolds''}}</ref> }} -->

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20180224055722/http://www.ltsg.edu/ Internet Archive of the former Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg website] *{{HABS |survey=PA-359 |id=pa0007 |title=Lutheran Theological Seminary, Main Building, Gettysburg, Adams County, PA |photos=3 |data=1 |supp=yes}} *[http://www.ats.edu/member-schools/lutheran-theological-seminary-gettysburg ATS profile for Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg] *[https://www.unitedlutheranseminary.edu Official site for United Lutheran Seminary]

{{ELCA Seminaries}} {{Washington Theological Consortium}} {{Battle of Gettysburg}} {{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}

Category:American Civil War sites Category:Cemeteries in Pennsylvania Category:Educational institutions established in 1826 Category:Universities and colleges established in the 1820s Category:Gettysburg Battlefield Category:Lutheran cemeteries in the United States  Category:Lutheran seminaries Category:School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Category:Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Category:Universities and colleges in Adams County, Pennsylvania Category:1826 establishments in Pennsylvania Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania Category:National Register of Historic Places in Adams County, Pennsylvania Category:2017 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 2017