Protestant Foundations: How Church Formations Exemplified Military School Ideology at North Georgia College and State University (UNG) from its founding until the 1960s.

This research highlights the symbiotic relationship between the Historic Church on Choice Street (Previously Dahlonega Baptist Church) and North Georgia College and State University (UNG) by way of mandatory church attendance and the practice of Church Formations. “Church Formations” shows the connection between the institution’s military identity and Protestant ideology through a practice that seems largely unique to NGCSU. This practice in which cadets were required to attend a church that held affiliation with NGCSU in uniform, after lining up in military formation and marching to the intended churches past important downtown Dahlonega government buildings, and later the Price Memorial Building. This research of Church Formations according to NGCSU’s protestant and the U.S. Military Academy West Point foundational identity and how it progressed until the 1960s as civil rights and religious freedom in the school setting became a national discussion and congressional change have not been analyzed. Drawing from sources publicized by the university such as Cyclops Yearbooks, Cadet Book of Regulations, and Board of Trustee Books, along with alumni interviews, I intend to show the strong correlation between the university’s founder, William Price, and his contributions as founder and heavy involvement with the Historic Church to become a staple in North Georgia College and State University’s daily academia and military regime.