Indiana University is a flagship institution located in Bloomington, Indiana. The system has grown to include seven campuses and two regional centers statewide. Indiana University prides itself on providing a creative atmosphere where students have the ability to be innovative leaders with academic freedom. As a public research institution with a number of diverse academic programs, many ranked #1 or in the top 10 nationally, it is easy to see how Indiana University has been not only operating but thriving for nearly two hundred years.
Indiana University had an interesting start and journey to becoming the largest state university. The founding process wasn’t easy as “the state constitution, the charter and the origins of the university proceeded, one from the other” (McMains 2016). The Northwest Ordinance was passed creating the Northwest Territory in 1787. Indiana Territory was created in 1800 with Vincennes being named as the capital; it later moved to Corydon in May of 1813. By 1815, a statehood petition was drafted requesting an education land grant. The following year, Indiana Territory met the 60,000 minimum population required for statehood. In April of 1816, The Indiana Enabling Act called for an entire township to be used for “a seminary of learning” (McMains 2016); President James Madison signed the bill admitting Indiana as a State by Congress. A state constitution was drafted and required that the state legislature create “a general system of education…from township schools to a state university (McMains 2016). In 1818, Monroe County was organized and by April 10th, the town of Bloomington had been laid and mapped out. Indiana University was established as the “State Seminary” on January 20, 1820. Later that year, trustees met in Bloomington to determine the site that would house the State Seminary. It was decided that four hundred yards south of the town square along a creek. Construction began for the Seminary building in 1822. Indiana University wouldn’t establish itself as a “college” until eight years later with the help of David Maxwell, a physician and Bloomington pioneer. In 1828, Maxwell unofficially attended a state legislature session to persuade the state government in Corydon to charter the seminary as a college. Ten years later, Indiana College would become Indiana University.
As most colleges were at the time, Indiana University was founded on the basis of a religion, Presbyterian. Baynard Rush Hall, a Presbyterian minister, was hired as the first professor in 1823 with classes beginning the following year with an enrollment of only 10 male students. Hall’s educational approach was focused classical subjects, concentrating on Greek and Latin. With the State Seminary being converted to Indiana College, the first president, Andrew Wylie was offered and accepted the position by fall of 1829 and would serve until his death in 1851. During his presidential term, Wylie would have the privilege of overseeing the first graduating class in 1830; guiding the school through the transition from Indiana College to Indiana University in 1838; and establishing the School of Law in 1842. Following Andrew Wylie’s death, the university sought Alfred Ryors from Ohio University. Ryors accepted in the fall of 1862, but resigned the following year due to differences. William Mitchell Daily was appointed as president following the resignation of Ryors. Daily was a Methodist minister and a graduate of Indiana University whose term was not without challenges. With the campus being founded on a Presbyterian basis, most of the faculty and staff were of the same faith. During his presidency, a fire in 1854 destroyed the library, records and the First College building. The Second College building was built the following year.
Indiana University faced conflict during William Mitchell Daily’s presidency with community questioning the topic of diversity within the school. Although the state of Indiana backed Daily becoming president, as they believed he could “help the institution with its financial troubles,” many believed he was fully qualified for the position due to his noneducational background. As a result of a number of accusations that could neither confirmed nor denied, Daily resigned in 1859. Theophilus A. Wylie, cousin to Indiana University’s first president Andrew Wylie, was a professor of natural philosophy and languages, serving as acting president for a six-month period while the Board of Trustees sought their first choice. John Hiram Lathrop was a graduate of Yale University and was the Board of Trustees first choice when considering a replacement after the death of Andrew Wylie. However, at the time, Lathrop was serving as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin- Madison and declined. After William Mitchell Daily’s resignation, Lathrop was contacted with the hope of accepting the position as president. He accepted in the fall of 1859, but resigned the next year. Cyrus Nutt was elected president of Indiana University in 1860. During his presidency, Indiana University began to admit women in 1867 with the first woman graduate, Sarah Parke Morrison, in 1869. Athletics also began to make their debut at the university, with a men’s baseball team being established in 1867. Nutt was dismissed by the Board of Trustees in July 1875, passing away only a month later. In August 1875, Lemuel Moss was elected president. During his presidency, Moss was extremely active in the education field serving on executive boards as well as being an active member of several associations. It was said that he was a strong educator, conducting the university toward some substantial and positive changes. Moss sought to expand the curriculum, increase the salaries of professors, and add several men to the faculty to reduce workloads by having teaching assistants. Even with these revisions to the university, the Law and Medicine departments were closed for the time being and only about six new students enrolled during his presidency.
The year of 1883 proved to be compelling year for Indiana University. Charles Henry Gilbert became the first student to graduate with his Ph.D. Earlier in the year, an endowment act passed giving one-half cent on each one hundred dollars of taxable property for the next thirteen years. In July, the Science Hall was struck by lightning and destroyed in a fire. Following the fire, the Board of Trustees felt that the institution should rebuild on a larger site. This led to the purchase of land known as “Dunn’s Woods,” which was approximately 20 acres of land. This move from Seminary Square has been the permanent site for Indiana University since. The following year, construction began on the new campus with Wylie and Owen Halls being the first buildings on site; they were completed in 1885. In the fall of 1884, Moss abruptly resigned due to rumors of an improper relationship with a female professor. Elisha Ballantine, a professor at Indiana University since 1854, served as acting president after Moss’s departure. David Star Jordan, “an 1871 zoology graduate in the first class at Cornell University,” was named president in 1885 (McMains 2016), although he was hired in 1879 as a professor of Natural History. At the age of 34, he was the nation’s youngest university president. Jordan was also Indiana University’s first president who was not an ordained minister. During his presidency, Indiana University’s men’s football team began; cream and crimson were chosen as the university’s official colors; Meadie Hawkins Evermann, the first married woman graduate, earned her AB in zoology; the Department of Physical Training for Womenand Summer School were established; the Prepartory Department was dissolved; and Library Hall, later renamed Maxwell Hall, was constructed. Jordan’s presidency also saw the revision of the curriculum to emphasize science and modern languages thus shifting the university from that classical college to an expanding university. He improved the university’s public image, finances and enrollment numbers. He served as president until 1891, when he left to become Stanford University’s first president.
After Jordan’s departure, John Merle Coulter, a professor of Botany, was named the eighth president of Indiana University in 1891 and would serve through 1893. During this time period, the Department of Physical Training for Men would be established leading to the Men’s Gymnasium being completed in 1892; Indiana University would win the Intercollegiate Baseball Championship series again DePauw University; the first extension course was offered in Indianapolis; Tamar Althouse became the first woman graduate of the School of Law; and the first Indiana University versus Purdue University football game was held. In 1893, Joseph Swain, a professor of mathematics and biology at Indiana University, became its first Indiana-born president and would serve until 1902. During his nearly nine years as president, Swain would see a lot of firsts. The men’s basketball team would be founded; the first black graduate, Marcellus Neal, would earn his A.B. degree in mathematics; Preston E. Eagleson would become the first African-American member of the Indiana University intercollegiate team, playing football from 1893 to 1895; the Intercollegiate Conference, late The Big Ten, would be founded; Florence Reid Myrick would become the first woman Editor-In-Chief of The Student for the 1897-1898 school year; the football team played their first game on Jordan Field; Carrie Parker became the first African-American woman to enroll; the first public women’s basketball game would take place; Marie Louise Boisen became the first woman Editor-In-Chief of the Arbutus yearbook; and Mary Bidwell Breed becomes the first female dean at Indiana University.