DePauw: A Pictorial History

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

This book was conceived in discussions of the sesquicentennial planning committee called together by President Richard F. Rosser in the spring of 1985 to begin preparations for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Indiana Asbury-DePauw University. An editorial committee was appointed to supervise the writing and publication of a series of departmental and school histories as well as a larger pictorial history of the university as a whole. Both President - later Chancellor - Rosser and his successor, President Robert G. Bottoms, encouraged and supported this project from its inception. DePauw: A Pictorial History owes much to its predecessors: Belle A. Mansfield's DePauw University - a Historical Sketch (1901); Irving F. Brown's Indiana Asbury-DePauw University: A History (1914); William W. Sweet's Indiana Asbury-DePauw University, 1837-1937 (1937); and George B. Manhart's DePauw Through the Years (1962). Besides bringing the story down to the present, this volume attempts to present the history of the institution in a new light by combining an analytical narrative with carefully selected illustrations. Each chapter contains, in addition to the main text, several word and picture vignettes and pictorial layouts highlighting significant episodes, personalities, and other features. Most of the text is the work of the two chief authors, who have been colleagues in the history department at DePauw for more than 30 years. John Baughman prepared the initial draft of the first chapter as well as an administrative history of the institution since 1884. He also wrote nearly all the picture captions and some of the vignettes, and played an active editorial role throughout. Clifton Phillips, who serves as the editor of DePauw's sesquicentennial historical publications, was largely responsible for drafting the remaining text and making the final revisions. Former Professor of English Harold Spicer contributed many of the items on student life in both the main text and the vignettes. Associate Professor of History John Schlotterbeck was a member of the editorial committee from the outset and provided the valuable quantitative analysis found in the appendices. Another member of the editorial committee, University Archivist Wesley Wilson, helped to select the illustrations and prepare them for publication. Finally, DePauw alumnus and novelist John Jakes wrote the lively introduction. The authors wish to thank the many persons whose efforts helped to make this volume possible. Several of them are attached to the university's office of public relations: Gregory Rice, university editor; Dian D. Phillips, director of publications; and Mary Rector, photographer. Janae Berry, a freelance layout artist, also contributed to the book. Members of the staff of the university archives, past and present, who furnished research assistance during the project include Eleanor Cammack, David Horn, Julia D. Young, Sharon Cheslik, Susan Moore, Laura Clymer, Joan Cunningham and the late Virginia Brann. We are also grateful to the spouses and families who patiently endured the strains and stresses of a protracted enterprise. We have tried to avoid most of the usual pitfalls of college histories. This has meant resisting the temptation to recount nostalgically the funny stories told around the fraternity house fireplace, faculty eccentricities, presidents' and deans' follies, and the last-minute football victory over Old Siwash, or to flatter wealthy donors and influential alumni and overpraise recent administrations. We have attempted to be fair and evenhanded, noting both trials and triumphs, praising the strengths of the university where appropriate and admitting occasional weaknesses and misadventures. What finally emerges from these pages, we believe, is a late 20th century interpretation of the history of Indiana Asbury-DePauw University that strives for objectivity while necessarily reflecting to some degree the special perspectives of the authors. It is our hope that this volume will make a useful contribution to DePauw's sesquicentennial celebration by providing its readers with a valid record in words and pictures of the institution's first 150 years. It is dedicated to all those who have had a part as students, members of the faculty and administration, trustees, or benefactors, living and dead, in molding the university during the past century and a half. Clifton J. Phillips & John J. Baughman Greencastle, Indiana June 30, 1987