Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science
School logo
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| Type | Private |
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| Established | 1882 |
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Academic staff
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12 |
| Undergraduates | 144 |
| Location | Finneytown, Ohio, USA |
| Campus | Urban/suburban |
| Colors | Purple and gold |
| Website | www.ccms.edu |
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science (CCMS) is a primarily two-year, non-profit, private mortuary science college, located adjacent to St. Xavier High School just outside Cincinnati in Finneytown, Ohio, USA. CCMS considers itself 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's degrees and bachelor's degrees in mortuary science.
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, Dr. 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 Dr. C. M. Lukens at the Pulte Medical College. 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.
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