Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science (CCMS) is a private mortuary science college in Springfield, Ohio. CCMS is the oldest school of its kind in the United States, tracing its history back to the Clarke School, which organized its first class on March 8, 1882. The school was later called the Cincinnati College of Embalming, arriving at the present name in 1966. CCMS offers associate degrees and bachelor's degrees in mortuary science.
History
Joseph Henry Clarke
During the early periods of embalming in the United States, it became necessary to teach the skills required for new and reliable embalming techniques. To meet the need for training, a man named Joseph Henry Clarke founded a school of embalming at the corner of Park and Sixth Streets in Cincinnati, Ohio. Born November 28, 1840, in Connersville, Indiana, Clarke later would be known as the "father of American embalming schools."
After a period of working in his brother's pharmacy, Clarke studied medicine in Keokuk, Iowa, at about the time the Civil War broke out. Eventually he was permitted by the Union Army to serve in the position of assistant hospital steward in the 5th Iowa Infantry. His brother-in-law, W. Darrow, allowed him to help with amputations and visiting sick wards.
After the war Clarke became a casket salesman for the Whitewater Valley Coffin Company and began to realize the need for better methods of preservation for human bodies. To learn more, he enrolled in an anatomy course taught in Cincinnati by C. M. Lukens at the Pulte Homeopathic Medical College (1873–1910). Together they worked out the ideas for a school of embalming. Their schooling began as a demonstration of newly-developed embalming chemicals along with rudimentary teaching of arterial and venous embalming techniques. The success of their classes was based on what the students could learn as well as the quality of products sold.
The first class was organized Monday, March 8, 1882, and ended Saturday, March 13, 1882. Six days of intensive training were held in the amphitheater of Pulte Medical College at Seventh and Mound Streets. The original class consisted of seven students. They were: Frank Waterman, Boston, Massachusetts; George Thomas, Milwaukee Wisconsin; J. F. McCormick, Mt. Vernon, Ohio; George Butler, Cumberland, Maryland; John Arnold, Zanesville, Ohio; William Taylor, Paris, Kentucky; and William Greer, Oxford, Ohio. After attending the demonstrations at the amphitheater, students were presented with 8"x10" certificates from the Clarke School. The certificates were signed by C. M. Lukens, principal and Pulte professor of anatomy, Joseph Henry Clarke, and C. M. Epply, lecturers and demonstrators.
Following the second class Clarke was financially able to make the school a permanent institution of learning. The second class was organized April 24, 1882, at the Pulte Medical College with ten students. The school gained its first public recognition when a trade paper published the class material. The third class was organized June 6, 1882, with only six students. In addition, the fourth class, organized July 11, contained the same number of students, but it was conducted at Luken's office on Race Street. The fifth class, organized September 19, became the second largest class of that year with sixteen students. The sixth class was the last class of 1882 that was conducted in Cincinnati. It was organized November 7 with four students and was held at the Eclectic Medical College at Court and Plum Streets. To broaden the knowledge of students and to stimulate interest in the school, Professor Clarke and his colleagues traveled to three larger cities. The first stop was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 1882, where a class was held with fifteen students. It was held in a hallway over a drug store at 11th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.
Following the Philadelphia adventure the school moved on to New York City, where, on December 1, 1882, the school encountered its largest class. It contained seventeen students, and the lectures were given in a society hall. As the year-end approached, the Clarke School of Embalming proceeded to conduct its last few classes of the year. One was in Boston on December 11, and the other was in New York City for a second time. The year of 1882 was prosperous. Having taught 106 students in four major cities, Clarke stated that "This ended our first year's effort to convince the people that embalming was a successful way of preserving the human dead." Coincidentally the year 1882 was also the founding year for the National Funeral Directors Association.