The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-05-20
RECALL EARLY DAYS
OF RLHAM COLLEGE
IN DIAMOND JUBILEE

cises here this year. The old Friends
Boarding School, which was the fore
runner of Earlham college, was open
ed June z, 1847, and the many Incl
dents that have transplred In the de-
velopment of the school into modern
college will be recalled in a pageant
and by speakers, including Herbert C.
Hoover, secretary of the department
of commerce.
Richmond and vicinity was early set
tied by Friends from North Carolina
and Pennsylvania, who brought with
them the Quaker belief in education,
almost as strong as their religious be-
lief.
By the side of their early churches
stood their school house, and every
year as. they gathered in their yearly
meeting" at Richmond, they gave
much attention to the subject of edu-
cation
AS early as 1882 they began move
ment towards the establishing of
school which should reach higher in
the field of education, than the prim-
airy and academic schools Of their To-
cal communities.
AS Richmond was the center of In
diana and Ohio Quakerism. and was
the place of their annual gatherings,
as well as one of their best Monthly
Meeting Schools" the idea was pro-
jected of establishing a boarding
school at this place, which should be
for the use of Friends children.
The Yearly Meeting of October.
1882 saw two farms purchased on the
National road then five years old, up
on which the promoters of the pro-
posed school intended to erect their
institution. But many years of hard
and discouraging work was before
them before they realized their wish.
In five years they only succeeded in
raising a sum of s215.53 for the build
ing of the institution and the prosecu-
ton of the work, and yet with sublime
faith they did not give up, but work
ed on with the hope that they would
succeed.
Kept Work Alive.
The men who kept this work alive
by their energy and buoyancy were:
Elijah Coffin, of Richmond, Ind; Dan
lei Williams, of Green's Fork. Ind;
Henry H. Way, of Fountain City, Ind;
BENJAMIN Fulghum, OF Richmond, Ind;
James Pegg, of Dublin, Ind; Aaron
White, of Raysville, Ind; George
Evans, of Spiceland, Ind; William
Hobbs, of Salem, Ind. William Cross
man of Cincinnati; Charles Osborne,
of Wilmington, Ohio; George Carter,
of Grassy Run, Ohio; Thomas Evans
and Thomas Arnet, of Waynesville,
Ohio. In May, 1888. the contracts for
brick and lumber were let for Earlham
Boarding school, although only lit
tie over one-half as much was then
subscribed as the contracts called for,
$4,000. But the building was erected
little by little, and for nine long years
the future of the boarding school al
ternated between hope and despair,
until finally on Monday, June Z, 1847
the Friends Boarding School was
opened with great thanksgiving on
the part of its friends.
Ideals Preserved.
The school had a distinct "atmos-
phere" from the very first. It was
co-educational institution-there was
not the ordinary discrimination
against women. The founders were
advocates of the principle of peace, of
civic righteousness, of moral and re
ligious training as we'll as intellec.
tual development and while we would
smile now at some of their rules and
regulations, not only have the domi
rant ideas been preserved, but each
one of them has gained recognition
IS necessary feature in any we'll or
SdulZGd SYSTEM VI Aul6IlCdu
ton. These men were more than pho
neers and promoters-they were
prophets.
The school was not large, but the
quality of work done was good. The
old boarding school produced sucf
good men as William Penn Nixon, fol
many years managing editor of the
Chicago Inter Ocean; Joseph Gurne!
Cannon, of Danville, Ill; Francis T
White and Mordecai Morris White
bankers, of New York and Cincinnati
Judge Vincent Carter, of Indianapolis
Achilles Unthank, civil engineer, wht
constructed important works in Asi;
and South America; and Hiram Had
ley. a great teacher in Indiana ant
elsewhere, and the Father of Edu
cation" and state superintendent o
public instruction of New Mexico.
Chartered in 1889.
The college was chartered in 1858
and was christened Earlham. Ava,
the ancestral seat of the Gurney's, a
English banker and prominent minis
Ter among the Friends gave $50 to tn
boarding school fund; later his widoy
made a larger gift, and the name O
the ancestral seat of the urney's. a
Norfolk, England, 'Earlham Hall,
was adopted Dy the committee. IN
officers and teachers of the new co
lege were men and women of such re
finement scholarship and characte
that the college at once possessed a
enviable prestige among educationa
Institutions 1t would be fair to sa!
n I think, that this prestige has bee
" maintained during the years.
Earlham was not only a leader i
the field of co-education, but in tn
field of advanced practical instructio
in science. For instance the frs
chemical laboratory in the state fo
college purposes was established &
Earlham as well as the first collectio
of material for a museum of nature
history and the first college obser
atory. at which for many years til
transit instruments taken from Fol
Sumpter and loaned to Earlham b
the United States government ha
been in use.
Remarkable Museum.
EarIham also was the first collee
of liberal arts in the state to graz
credit for work toward a degree
manual training and domestic scienc
Today the college has not only a r
,,,orL hIa nuSeum-named in hone