Early College Leader is Honored

 

An important early educator was recently remembered for her educational and political leadership. In "Columbia College honors founding mother Luella St. Clair Moss to delight of LWV members," 

Roger McKinney of the Columbia Daily Tribune reports on comments by Brad Lookingbill, Columbia College's distinguished history professor as he paid tribute to a college founder - Luella St. Clair Moss. She served three non-consecutive terms as college president, the first in 1893.

Jarvis Christian College Changes Its Name

Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, TX changed its name to Jarvis Christian University.
 
Jarvis is a historically Black institution affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was founded in 1913.

You can also read more in "Jarvis Christian College announces name change, new graduate programs," posted by KLTV-7 with reporting by Saria Bonds.

You can click on the Index to Institutions by State that have closed, merged, or changed their names link at the right to find a file with a list of institutional changes for Texas or other states.

Northwest Christian University will become Bushnell University

Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Oregon will change its name to become Bushnell University.

The institution was founded in 1895 as Eugene Divinity School and is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The name changed to Eugene Bible University in 1908 and then to Eugene Bible College in 1930. Following a merger with Spokane University in 1933, it then adopted name of Northwest Christian College and later changed to Northwest Christian University in July 2008. Enrollment is 800 students.

You can read more in an article for The Register-Guard of Eugene by Jordyn Brown, "Northwest Christian University in Eugene to change its name."


The institutional website also offers a short video and extentensive FAQ section with additional information.

William Woods University Prepares for Sesquicentennial

William Woods University in Fulton, MO is preparing to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding as the Female Orphans School of the Christian Church in northwestern Missouri in 1870. The name changed when the institution relocated to Fulton. It was known as William Woods College after 1900 and in 1992 became William Woods University.

The Columbia Missourian published an interesting article January 14, 2020 by Tristen Rouse that weaves together institutional history and descriptions of upcoming sesquicentennial events planned for 2020, "William Woods University, once for Civil War daughters, celebrates 150th."

William Woods president Jahnae H. Barnett will join Mr. Jonathan Kemper, great-great grandson of the William Woods for a birthday party kick-ff on Friday, January 17, 2020, at Cutlip Auditorium on the campus. The sesquicentennial theme will be “The Woods at 150 Years: a 2020 Vision for the Future.” You can visit the university website for more details.

A previous College History Garden post featured In Faith and History: the story of William Woods College, an excellent institutional history written by Griffith A. Hamlin. The book was printed in 1965 as a private edition by The Bethany Press, St. Louis, MO. The post links to Abe Books where inexpensive used copies of the book can be purchased.

Milligan College will become Milligan University in 2020

Milligan College in northeast Tennessee announced this past week that it will change its name to Milligan University in 2020. "Milligan’s Board of Trustees approved the decision regarding the name change after two years of study and after considering the input from a number of stakeholders including alumni, faculty, staff, the college’s strategic planning committee and others."

Milligan celebrated the sesquicentennial of its 1866 founding in 2016. The institution was founded as Buffalo Male & Female College at Cave Spring, TN. The name was changed to Milligan College in 1881.

Lynchburg College Trustees Adopt New Name

Trustees of Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, VA approved a name change earlier today and the institution will be known as the University of Lynchburg at the beginning of the 2018 academic year.  

The institution was founded as Virginia Christian College in 1903 and was affiliated with the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.  The name was changed to Lynchburg College in 1919.

A press release providing more information on the decision and the University of Lynchburg FAQ page are available on the institution's website.

Milligan College Celebrates 150th Anniversary

Milligan College in Tennessee is celebrating the sesquicentennial of its founding in 1866.  The institution was founded as Buffalo Male & Female College at Cave Spring, TN.  The name was changed to Milligan College in 1881.  The history of the college has been featured in a number of lectures that began this past summer and are continuing through the fall.  Billed as the Milligan 150 Seminar series, those who can't attend in person are able to view videos of the lectures on the Milligan website.  The Elizabethton Star published an article, "'Milligan 150' seminars provide insight into college history."

Eureka College Celebrates 160th Anniversary

Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois is celebrating the 160th anniversary of the institution's founding in 1855.  Eureka is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  An essay with a number of historical images is available.  There is also a fascinating This Week in Eureka History section that will run weekly through February of 2016.

Midway College in Kentucky Announces Name Change

Midway College announced that it will become Midway University on July 1, 2015.  The institution located in Midway, KY was founded as Kentucky Female Orphan School in 1847 by Dr. Lewis L. Pinkerton.  The name was changed to Pinkerton High School and Midway Junior College in 1942.  It became Midway College in 1978.  The main residential campus program continues to operate as a woman's college.

Jacksonville, IL: Home to Four Colleges in the Mid-1800's

Greg Olson of the Journal Courier posted an updated article on Berean College in Jacksonville, IL on February 23, 2015.  The institution was affiliated with the Disciples of Christ and operated from 1854-1860.  

Olson also notes that two other institutions operating in Jacksonville at the time remain today, Illinois College and MacMurray College.  Another institution, Jacksonville Female Academy, merged with Illinois College in 1903. 

The Disciples Colleges: A History

D. Duane Cummins' book, The Disciples Colleges: A History, provides an impressive introduction to the higher education ministry of the 209 colleges and 205 academies and other institutions associated with the Campbell-Stone religious tradition.  The book published in 1987 also includes an extensive bibliography.

Chapters include:  Bacon College and the Heritage of the Church-Related College Ideal; Disciples Colleges in the Early Nineteenth Century; Disciples Colleges in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries; and Disciples College and the Twentieth Century.

College Organization and Administration

College Organization and Administration, a book written by Floyd Reeves and John Russell, is based upon surveys of colleges affiliated with the Disciples of Christ.  The book was published by the Board of Education for the Disciples in 1929 and is a fascinating look into campus life during early years of the 20th century.

Reeves and Russell provide a picture of thirty institutions that included enrollment trends, governance, administrative organization, physical plant, library, curricular offerings, faculty, student personnel, institutional finance, and religious influences. The narrative along with an extensive array of charts combine to make this a valuable resource for anyone interested in liberal arts colleges during this important period of societal and academic change.

While most of the institutions still operate, several have closed. A list of the institutions included in the study follows:

Four Year Colleges & Universities

• Bethany College, Bethany, WV
• Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
• Culver-Stockton College, Canton, MO
• Drake University, Des Moines, IA
• Eureka College, Eureka, IL
• Hiram College, Hiram, OH
• Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA
• Phillips University, Enid, OK [closed in 1998]
• Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
• Transylvania College, Lexington, KY [now Transylvania University]
• Atlantic Christian College, Wilson, NC [name change to Barton College in 1990]
• California Christian College, Los Angeles, CA [relocated to Orange County, now Chapman University]
• Cotner College, Lincoln, NE [closed in 1933]
• Spokane University, Spokane, WA [closed in 1933]

Junior Colleges

• Christian College, Columbia, MO [Columbia College after 1970, now offering baccaleaureate & graduate degrees]
• William Woods University, Fulton, MO [now offering baccaleaureate & graduate degrees]
• Carr-Burdette College, Sherman, TX [closed in 1929]
• Missouri Christian College, Camden Point, MO [closed during Great Depression]
• Randolph College, Cisco, TX [closed in 1937]
• Hamilton College, Lexington, KY [closed in 1932]

Affiliated Institutions

• Bible College of Missouri, Columbia, MO [now the Missouri School of Religion located in Jefferson City, MO]
• Disciples Divinity House, Chicago, IL
• Drury School of the Bible, Springfield, MO [renamed Drury School of Religion, later becoming Department of Religion for Drury College, now Drury University]
• Illinois Disciples Foundation, Champaign, IL
• Indiana School of Religion, Bloomington, IN [closed in 1970]
• Kansas Christian Foundation, Topeka, KS
• Nebraska Disciples Foundation, Lincoln, NE
• Oklahoma Christian Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK
• The College of the Bible, Lexington, KY [name change to Lexington Theological Seminary in 1965]
• University School of Religion, Tuscaloosa, AL

Franklin College in Albany, OH

The Ohio Memory College includes the first catalog of Franklin College in Albany, Ohio.  The Meigs County Christian Cooperation purchased the Albany Manual Labor University that had previously been founded in 1851.  The institution was renamed Franklin College.  It later moved to Wilmington, Ohio in 1865 and was purchased by the Society of Friends to become Wilmington College.  The catalog includes information on institutional history, courses of study, and students.

Christian College (Columbia, MO)

Paulina Batterson's Columbia College: 150 Years of Courage, Commitment, and Change is an exceptionally well written history of the institution in Columbia, Missouri.  The history was published by the University of Missouri Press in 2001.  

The author provides an interesting picture of the struggles faced by those associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who set out in 1851 to establish what emerged for a time as a successful nondenominational liberal arts college for women.  Readers will find many details that help with understanding the later transition to become one of the first junior colleges in the 1920's and the emergence after 1970 as a coeducational institution.

In Faith and History: the story of William Woods College

In Faith and History: the story of William Woods College is another excellent institutional history written by Griffith A. Hamlin. The book was printed in 1965 as a private edition by The Bethany Press, St. Louis, MO.

Hamlin covers the initial founding in northwestern Missouri by the Christian Church in 1870 as the Female Orphans School. Operating from Fulton, Missouri after 1890, the school evolved to become William Woods College. With an evolving mission, the name was changed to William Woods University in 1992.

Hamlin also authored a history of Monticello College that operated in Illinois from 1838-1971.