History

Missouri Military Academy boasts a long and proud history as one of the nation's premier college prep military schools. While many things have changed throughout history, our commitment to upholding honor and tradition and leading young men to success will forever remain integral to our program.

1889 – Colonel A.F. Fleet raises enough local money to open a new school in Mexico. He becomes the first president of the school.

1890 – Missouri Military Academy opens its doors. The campus is located on West Boulevard, near the current site of Mexico Junior High School. William H. Dulaney of St. Joseph, Mo. is the first student to enroll.

1892 – The first MMA athletics programs are in place – football, baseball and track.

1896 – A fire erupts in the middle of the night, destroying the entire campus. Fortunately, there were no deaths and few injuries. Col. Fleet reacted quickly, taking the corps of cadets to Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana. (Now the Culver Academies.) The Academy closed its doors.

1900 – Under the leadership of Col. A.K. Yancey, president of Hardin College, and with the support of Mexico citizens, the Academy reopens at its current location east of the Mexico square with Yancey as president.

1902 – Ruth Fonville, daughter of school president Colonel W. D. Fonville, becomes MMA’s first and only female graduate.

1930 – MMA selected as an honor military school by the U.S. War Department (would become the Department of Defense)

1933 – Colonel Charles R. Stribling, Jr. becomes school president, beginning the long-lasting influence of the Stribling family at MMA.   Stribling was president from 1933-1968

1939 – MMA celebrates its Golden Jubilee (50 years) with “parades, speeches, and special ceremonies”; guest of honor was U.S. Postmaster General James Farley

1941 – MMA provides the Honor Guard and marches in the inaugural parade for Missouri governor Forrest Donnell

1948 – MMA reorganizes as a non-profit educational corporation in response to the trend of other U.S. military schools deciding non-profit status was more desirable for institutions

1957 – The MMA band is appointed by the state of Missouri to parade in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration of President Dwight Eisenhower.  This would be the first of six inaugurations in which MMA would participate.  (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon [twice], and Carter)

1961 – Memorial Chapel opens, graduating seniors donated class gifts for its construction

1963 – MMA marks Diamond Jubilee (75 years), school held three separate convocations were held for honor graduates

1967 – Field House becomes biggest project in school history at $350,000

1968 – Colonel Charles R. Stribling, III ’44 becomes school president, school reached capacity enrollment of 351 that year

1981 – The entire MMA student body participates in the inauguration of Mexico, Mo. native Christopher “Kit” Bond as Missouri governor.

1985 – The U.S. Department of Education announces its selection of MMA as an Exemplary Private School.  One of just 65 private schools selected out of 27,000 across the U.S., it was the only military school recognized.

1989 – MMA commemorates its Centennial with a ribbon cutting for the Gymtorium

1993 – Ron Kelly succeeds Charles R. Stribling, III ‘44 as president of the Academy

2007 – MajGen Robert M. Flanagan, USMC (Ret.) becomes first general to serve as MMA president.

2008 – R. Stribling Koster is named Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

2009 – Barnard Hall, the first LEED-certified (environmentally friendly) high school in Missouri, is completed on the site of the former “A” Barracks.

2010 – MMA seniors earn a record-breaking amount of college scholarships, totaling more than $3 million

2011 – 111-year old Stribling Hall is torn down to make way for a new administration building that will keep the same name