CentreCyclopedia

S. P. Lees Collegiate Institute

Founded in 1883 in Jackson, Kentucky, as the Jackson Academy, the school property was purchased by Central University in 1891 to become Jackson Collegiate Institute, one of the university's four collegiate institutes. In recognition of the financial generosity of Mrs. S. P. Lees of New York, Mrs. N. F. McCormick, and other friends, the name was changed in 1897 to the S. P. Lees Collegiate Institute. Following the consolidation of Central University and Centre College in 1901, the institute become part of the newly formed Central University of Kentucky. Control of S. P. Lees Collegiate Institute was transferred to the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky, U.S., in 1906. The institute would later become a private two-year college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, and in 1996 part of the Hazard (Ky.) Community and Technical College.