Wabash College - History

History

Caleb Mills, Wabash College's first faculty member, would later come to be known as the father of the Indiana public education system and would work throughout his life to improve education in the then-primitive Mississippi Valley area. Patterning it after the liberal arts colleges of New England, the College's founders resolved "that the institution be at first a classical and English high school, rising into a college as soon as the wants of the country demand." The "demand" occurred rapidly. It was initially named "The Wabash Teachers Seminary and Manual Labor College" but was soon changed as the college solidified. Still, until the early 1900s, the College also offered a "Preparatory School" in order to sufficiently prepare incoming students who may have come from less-rigorous rural high schools and had not had the opportunity to study the courses required for entrance to the College. After declaring the site at which they were standing would be the location of the new school, they knelt in the snow and conducted a dedication service. Although Mills, like many of the founders, was a Presbyterian minister, they were committed to the idea that Wabash should be independent and non-sectarian.

Elihu Baldwin was the first President of the College from 1835 until 1840. He came from a church in New York City and accepted the Presidency even though he knew that Wabash was at that time threatened with bankruptcy. He met the challenge and gave thorough study to the "liberal arts program" at Wabash. After his death, he was succeeded by Charles White, a graduate of Dartmouth College, and the brother-in-law of Edmund O. Hovey, a professor at the college.

Joseph F. Tuttle, after whom Tuttle Grade School in Crawfordsville was named in 1906 and Tuttle Middle School in 1960, became President of Wabash College in 1862 and served for 30 years. "He was an eloquent preacher, a sound administrator and an astute handler of public relations." Joseph Tuttle, together with his administrators, worked to improve relations in Crawfordsville between "Town and gown".

During World War II, Wabash College was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.