Impact of Fires, Epidemics, or Natural Disasters on Colleges and Universities

Virginia Sapiro posted a working paper on her blog that will be of interest to those studying the responses of college and universities during the current coronavirus pandemic.  Her paper, "Fires, Epidemics, Natural Disasters, and Higher Education: A Brief Sketch," offers a short narrative weaving together historical examples of institutions that have faced fires, epidemics, or natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, tornadoes or hurricanes. The paper includes an appendix with a lengthy list of accredited U.S. institutions that have experienced fires that threatened institutional survival.

Sapiro concludes that these emergencies need more emphasis when researchers study institutions and that appreciation for the impact of disasters contributes to a better understanding of higher education history.

The author serves as Professor of Political Science and Dean Emerita of Arts and Sciences at Boston University. This recent working paper draws from a previously posted working paper and data set, “Working Paper: The Life Course of Higher Education Institutions: When the End Comes, 1890-2019” 2019.

For those interested, I also created the table below with information on institutions impacted by fires from my file of Colleges and Universities that have Closed, Merged, or Changed Names. There is some overlap with Sapiro's list in her appendix, though the total pool of institutions is larger since it  includes any institution that referred to itself as a colleges or university.  As a result, institution may or may not have offered college level programs or have been accredited.

A number of College History Garden blog posts over the years have highlighted resources on specific campuses that have had significant fires:

• December 21, 2018  Fire On This Date in 1922 at Mount Holyoke
• July 12, 2018  Impact of Significant Fires at Indiana University
• April 26, 2018  Remembering a Tragic Fire at Tabor College
• January 24, 2018 Digital Repository at St. Francis University
• December 19, 2017  Campus Fires Shape Valparaiso University and Students Present Results of Archival Research
• May 28, 2016  Commemorating a Tragic Fire at Penn College
• February 23, 2014  Ottumwa Heights College (IA)
• May 10, 2012  Mount Morris College (IL)

Please leave a comment below if you are aware of information on other institutions that faced significant fires or other disasters in their past.