Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NAUVOO

The University of the City of Nauvoo was the first institution for secular learning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints founded,

  not Brigham Young University, as many believe.   

Own a part of Mormon / Latter-Day saint history from the Nauvoo era

Free Shipping in the Continental United States ONLY.  All others must contact seller BEFORE you buy and request an estimate of what the item will cost to ship to you.  

All buyers outside of the continental United States must pay postage and handling to send this item to you. 

NOTE: This is a novelty diploma

(Item Number 11130

1.  Your diploma will be printed on antique style paper as shown.

2.  A water mark of the Nauvoo Temple is in the background of your diploma.

3.  The diploma can be personalized with any name you wish.

4.   The date of graduation recorded on your diploma will be the date you purchased this item, unless you tell us otherwise. 

5.   Raised print gold-colored seal with the Nauvoo Temple in the center and the name of the university around the outside of the seal, as shown in the photos. 

6.  Diploma Holder included.

Own a part of Mormon history from the Nauvoo era.

Mormon historian and professor of church history at Brigham Young University, Dr. Susan Easton Black, published an article on the University of the City of Nauvoo, in the Religious Educator Vol. 10 No. 3 · 2009, entitled “The University of Nauvoo, 1841–45”  Below are excerpts from Dr. Black’s published research. 

A number of new sources reveal little-known facts about the University of Nauvoo. These facts provide unique properties and greater clarity to our understanding of the role of the university. This article will explain these facts and show why the university was established in Nauvoo, describe its structure from 1841 to 1845, and analyze its effectiveness and role in the city.

After being driven out of Missouri, the Saints spent the winter of 1838–1839 in a handful of settlements on the east side of the Mississippi River. One of these, Commerce, Illinois, would soon become the next major gathering place for the Saints, and Joseph Smith would rename the settlement Nauvoo. The word Nauvoo is Hebrew for “beautiful.” 

An Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo was approved 16 December 1840 by the Illinois general assembly to legally organize the city of Nauvoo.

  The charter also included provisions for a university.

Section 24 of the charter reads, “The City Council may establish and organize an institution of learning within the limits of the city, for the teaching of the Arts, Sciences, and Learned Professions, to be called the ‘University of the City of Nauvoo,’ which institution shall be under the control and management of a Board of Trustees, consisting of a Chancellor, Registrar, and twenty-three Regents, which Board shall thereafter be a body corporate and politic, with perpetual succession by the name of the ‘Chancellor and Regents of the University of the City of Nauvoo.’”

Joseph said of the university component of the charter, “We hope to make this institution one of the great lights of the world, and by and through it, to diffuse that kind of knowledge which will be of practical utility, and for the public good, and also for private and individual happiness.”

Structure of the University

On February 3, 1841, the first meeting of the Nauvoo City Council was held in Joseph Smith’s office. At the meeting, the council voted to establish the “University of the City of Nauvoo.” According to council minutes, the university was to be a self-governing entity that would provide educational opportunities for adults and children in Nauvoo. The university was charged with all education in town—university, seminary or secondary, and common schools. Supervision of the three educational levels was given to a chancellor, registrar, and board of regents. Later, other administrative officers—trustees, wardens, directors and examiners—were added. Seventy-seven men served in an administrative function in the University of Nauvoo. In retrospect, the top-heavy administration, had too many leadership layers to successfully implement all administrative directives. Ideas generated at a low level of the vertical structure were slow to reach the top officials of the hierarchy.

The city council appointed Bennett as university chancellor and William Law as registrar. The council selected and appointed twenty-three men from its ranks to serve on the board of regents, among whom were Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, William Marks, Samuel H. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, and Newel K. Whitney. This multitier governing body was autocratic and operated in a strict line of authority. It also had uncontested power of perpetual succession.

On February 9, 1841, just six days after being appointed, members of the board of regents met at Joseph Smith’s office. There the board established laws and ordinances necessary for the welfare of the university, its officers, its faculty, and its students. The laws and ordinances were in compliance with the laws of the state of Illinois and the U.S. Constitution. On February 22, 1841, the city council transferred to the chancellor and board of regents all rights pertaining to educational matters in Nauvoo, except the right to appoint future members to the board. When the city council concluded that all legal rights pertaining to education in town had been successfully passed to the chancellor and his board, education at three levels (university, seminary, and common school) was authorized to begin.

University level. In August 1841, the first session of higher education began in Nauvoo. Classes were held in a loosely knit upper- and lower-university campus. On the upper campus, classroom instruction was given in private homes and in public structures such as the Concert Hall and the Nauvoo Temple. On the lower campus, private residences and the more public Masonic Hall, Seventies Hall, and Joseph Smith’s store were used as places of learning. Several adults participated in university classes, although a record of their attendance has not been preserved. The absence of records suggests that attendance was not a requirement for university enrollment.

Professors Orson Spencer, Sidney Rigdon, Gustavus Hills, John Pack, and Orson Pratt taught at the university. Pratt taught mathematics courses such as arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, conic sections, surveying, navigation, and differential calculus. He also presented lectures on astronomy, chemistry, foreign languages, and philosophy.

NAUVOO SEMINARY

Mr. Joseph N. and Miss Adelia Cole, would respectfully inform the citizens of Nauvoo, that they have opened a school in the large and convenient room, in the second story of President Joseph Smith’s store, on the corner of Water and Granger streets, on Tuesday the 11^th inst. [July] for the instruction of male and female . . .

TERMS OF TUITION

Reading, writing, and spelling $2.00

English Grammar & Geography 2.50

Chemistry and Natural Philosophy 3.00

Astronomy 4.00