The Andrew Drumm Institute opened in 1929 in Jackson County, Missouri as a home and working farm 'for the maintenance, care, education, and protection of orphan and indigent boys.' Major Andrew Drumm, a spirited adventurer and successful entrepreneur, was a prominent figure in the development of the livestock industry in Kansas City and throughout the Southwest.   One of the wealthiest men in Kansas City at the turn of the century, Andrew Drumm was widely know for his honesty, his strong work ethic and his generosity.   Upon his death in 1919 Major Drumm left his substantial estate to provide care and education for disadvantaged youth.  

  For the next fifty years, boys from six to eighteen lived at Drumm and attended the Independence or Kansas City public schools part-time.   After mornings in public school, they attended afternoon classes in vocational agriculture and farmed on Drumm's campus, growing and processing their own food.

The institute sponsored activities :4-H, FFA, church youth groups and Scouting. These were designed to foster leadership skills.   In the summer the boys worked at farming, work rewarded each year with a two-week educational and recreational camping trip to a sate or national park or some other historic site. :: view more ::

For a complete history of Andrew Drumm, please click here.