Oneida Baptist Institute

James Anderson Burns founded Oneida Baptist Institute at Oneida, Clay County, Kentucky in 1900. Four teachers and 125 students were on hand for the first day of school, January 1 of that year. In addition to educational basics there were courses in domestic science and manual arts, and an emphasis on religious instruction. By 1916 the Institute was operating extension schools in nearby communities, and teaching night classes for working adults, and had made sizable physical plant expansions. For several years the school was able to rely on its own farm products for much of its food. By 1953, the school was receiving more applications than it could accept. The 1960s saw an increase in the number admitted from urban areas and foreign countries. By 1982 there were 90 staff members serving 470 students in grades 7-12. Throughout its history, the school has depended upon individual contributions for a substantial part of its income, even though it receives funds from Baptist organizations and its own endowment.

Oneida Baptist Institute was founded in 1899 by James Anderson Burns, an eastern Kentucky native who had attended Denison University in Ohio. He wanted to use the school at Oneida to eradicate feuding in the mountains through Christian love and through development of innate intelligence.

In 1916, the Institute began operating branch schools in nearby communities. The next year, the Institute started to focus on community development by teaching better farming methods. After James Burns retired and the school was in difficulty, Associate President Sylvia Russell was appointed as director in 1922. She made the Institute solvent, increased the confidence of the community, developed a full staff, and filled the school to capacity with students.

During the next few decades, the Institute remained dedicated to providing an education emphasizing academics, manual labor, and religious instruction. In the 1960s, the Institute started admitting some students from outside the Appalachian area, although most students still came from the region. Although enrollment dropped in the early 1970s, it was revived through upgrading the academic program and continuing a strong emphasis on religious instruction.