Even though the Depression lingered, some students were still trying to achieve getting a college education.

One hundred men and women had met their $75 expense of attending one year at Kidder Junior College in Kidder, MO. Other expenses still had to be added in: driving from home, light housekeeping, very cheap rents and very reasonable terms on room and board.

The Inter-county Junior College at Cameron, MO, had an estimated 150 students. The students could either drive to college or board inexpensively. Rice Hall had rooms for girls at 50 cents and 75 cents a girl per week. Table board for boys and girls was approximately $3.50 per week.

Gallatin Democrat 8/23/33 “You Can Go to College” and “Wanted”;
researched and presented by Wilbur Bush, Gallatin, MO

Kidder, MO, was called the “Athens of Caldwell County” in its early days being considered the most scholarly town in the community. Kidder was laid out next to the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad on Aug. 3, 1860, by George Harris, a representative of the Kidder Land Co. of Boston, MA. From its beginnings, a college was a part of its plan. Those who settled in and around Kidder were mostly New Englanders, who had been raised in an educational atmosphere and others from different parts of the country who had been attracted by its good school privileges. Thayer College was established in 1869, soon to continue as the Kidder Institute. Professor G.W. Shaw directed this beacon for education for 43 years until his death in 1932.