A private Lutheran women's college in Hagerstown, Maryland (1853–1911) known for arts, music, and classical education.
Kee Mar College offered a rigorous curriculum spanning philosophy, history, mathematics, natural sciences, and classical languages (Latin, Greek, French, German). The institution conferred Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) and Master of Arts (A.M.) degrees, along with diplomas in literary courses, music, and art. The college maintained close ties with the American Society for the Extension of University Teaching and hosted university extension lectures. Two literary societies—The Society of Elaine and The Society of Antigone—provided students with opportunities to apply classroom knowledge. The music faculty comprised teachers trained at European conservatories, and the college housed an extensive collection of art reproductions, including over thirty Sistine Chapel frescoes supervised by John Ruskin and works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
The 11-acre campus occupied high ground in central Hagerstown with views of the Cumberland Valley, Blue Ridge Mountains, and surrounding peaks. The main hall featured Romanesque architecture with landscaped gardens, designed by a Baltimore architect and Philadelphia landscape gardener. The campus included a music hall, large auditorium (built 1894), and ten acres of forested land with shrubbery and evergreens, all heated by steam and lit by gas and electricity. Student life centered on daily chapel services, formal receptions, and amateur theatrical productions popular in the Hagerstown area. An alumnae association continued operating decades after the college's closure, raising funds for educational scholarships.
Established in 1853 under Lutheran church auspices with $25,000 raised for construction and endowment, the seminary enrolled 101 students from ten states in its first year and produced its first graduates in 1857. The campus served as a hospital during the Battle of Antietam. Reverend Cornelius L. Keedy purchased the institution in 1878 and renamed it Kee Mar College in 1889, deriving the name from the first three letters of his surname and his wife's maiden name, Marburg. The college changed hands several times in the early 1900s before closing in 1911, when the Washington County Hospital Association purchased it for $60,000 and converted the buildings for hospital use.