William Parker McKee

William Parker McKee (1862–1933) was an American educator and Baptist minister. He served as the chief executive of Shimer College from 1897 to 1930, a position known at the time as "Dean". During this period the school was known by turns as the Frances Shimer Academy, Frances Shimer School, and Frances Shimer Junior College. The second executive of the college following its founder Frances Shimer, Dean McKee was also the second longest-serving executive in Shimer's history. He oversaw the rebuilding of the campus following the fire of 1906, and the commencement of the junior college program shortly thereafter.

Early life

McKee was born on August 8, 1862, in Indianola, Illinois. Parker was the family name of his mother, Hattie Parker McKee. and graduated from Wabash College with an A.B. in 1883. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with an A.M. in 1897.

McKee assumed the Deanship after a brief period (1896–1897) in which control of the school had resided in a non-resident principal at the University of Chicago, whose decisions were implemented by the resident dean in Mount Carroll. With McKee's installation as Dean, decisionmaking became centralized in Mount Carroll as it had been under his predecessor, school founder Frances Shimer. but under McKee these were pursued aggressively. These efforts were aided in time by the estates of Frances Shimer and longtime associate principal Adelia C. Joy.

In February 1906, the entire campus except for the two most recent buildings was destroyed by fire. As he watched the academy burn, "those around him heard his words vowing to rebuild the campus." This was accomplished, with help from donors including Andrew Carnegie, and by the time of McKee's retirement the campus consisted of 12 brick buildings in the Georgian Revival style, all constructed during McKee's tenure. The last of these to be constructed was the gymnasium, which was financed by a $10,000 loan against the operating budget.

In addition to serving as Dean, which was equivalent to the modern position of President, McKee also served as an instructor of history at the academy. He was known for maintaining an atmosphere of collegiality, and created a tradition of reading James Whitcomb Riley to the students in the evenings. He was also responsible for creating a number of other Shimer traditions, including the May Fete.

In the final years of his presidency, McKee grew increasingly remote from the college and faculty. This became a source of concern to the Board by 1929, and it was found that Mrs. McKee was by that time performing many of the duties of the Dean. McKee submitted his resignation on November 29, 1929, and was succeeded in 1930 by Floyd Wilcox. The McKees moved to Urbana, Illinois, where McKee died in 1933.

Works

1899, "Transient and Permanent Elements in Deuteronomy", in The Biblical World, edited by William Rainey Harper et al., vol. 13, pp. 249–251. 1900, "Change in the Curricula of Girls' Schools", The Standard, vol. 47, p. 1510.