Wentworth Military Academy and College history

In 1882, Wentworth became a military school, and Sellers hired Captain David W. Fleet, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, as the first Commandant.

The school officially changed its name to Wentworth Military Academy in 1890.

In 1933, Colonel James M. Sellers assumed the superintendency of the school and was soon joined at the helm by Colonel Lester B. Wikoff, treasurer and business manager.

But Sandford Sellers stayed very involved until his death in 1938 after a fall in the school gymnasium.

A highlight of the Sellers-Wikoff era was President Harry S. Truman's speech to the cadet corps at Wentworth's 75th anniversary celebration in 1954.

Among the signature programs that Wentworth offered from 1966 until its closing was the Army's two-year Early Commissioning Program, an Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program through which qualified students can earn a commission as a Second Lieutenant after two years of college.

Wentworth was dealt an additional blow when, in 1975, a fire destroyed two buildings and severely damaged others, causing the loss of over 32,000 square feet (3,000 m) of space.

Despite these setbacks, Colonel J. M. Sellers, Jr., was able to stabilize enrollment by 1978 and lead the academy through another period of growth.

In 1980, Wentworth celebrated its centennial year, with Vice-President Walter Mondale addressing the corps of cadets at commencement.

In 1990, Colonel Sellers, Sr., who taught Latin until he was 95 years old, died, and Colonel Sellers, Jr., resigned as superintendent, ending a remarkable 110 years of the Sellers family's continuous involvement in the active operation of the academy.

As part of a new approach, female cadets were admitted for the first time in 1993, and soon made up about twenty-five percent of the corps.