Valparaiso University - Beacon / Record Yearbook (Valparaiso, IN)

Page 24 text:

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY Valparaiso University was founded September 16, 1873, by Henry Baker Brown, who was president of the institution until his death, September 16, 1917. President Brown was born October 6, 1847, at NIount Vernon, Ohio. At the age of fifteen he began to teach. From his small salary he saved suHicient to continue his education. After a course at Ohio VVesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, he entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, where he was graduated. Early in his teaching experience the realization came to President Brown that many young people are prevented from attending institutions of higher learning by the great expense and in many instances the impractical courses of study. It became his purpose to establish a school in which work, not wealth, would be the standard and every person would have an opportunity to obtain a thorough and practical edu- cation at the least possible expense. To the fulfillment of this resolve he gave his energy, his means, his talent, and his life. There was a school building at Valparaiso which had been occupied until 1870 by a NIethodist college. 11h. Brown came to Valparaiso in 1873, made arrange- ments to purchase this property, and in September he opened, in what has since been known to generations of students as HThe Old College Building, the Northern In- diana Normal School with three instructors and thirty-five students. The Northern Indiana Normal School soon began to express the purpose of its founder. Students gathered in increasing number from near and distant states and from foreign countries, and President Brown called about him an able and devoted corps of instructors. The names of VV. A. Yohn, Bliss Mantie Baldwin who is still living, 34. E. Bogarte, R'Iiss Lillian Chamberlain tMrs. BogarteL H. N. Car- ver, and other teachers of this period are held in grateful recollection by hundreds of men and women who sat under their instruction. The duties of management were many and the work heavy, but President Brown carried the burden alone until 1881, when Oliver Perry Kinsey joined him and as- sumed the duties of vice-president. Mr. Kinsey,s learning and zeal for teaching, his practical Sagacity and business acumen, his indefatigable industry, his devotion to the ideals of the founder, which were and are his ideals as well, are ineradicable factors in the upbuilding 0f the institution. Together, these two remarkable men, friends and associates in the work of human betterment, made the school one of the largest institutions of learning in the United States. The inHuence 0f the men and of the institution which they built has radiated to every state and to every country. More .. 20 ..

Page 23 text:

A- Vv . '1'. OLIVER PERRY KINSEY PRESIDENT EMERITUS TlIc L'nit'rrsity-An Edumfar and Trut' NIouldt'r 0f CharadprU

Page 25 text:

A. Mmi than one hundred twenty-five thousand men and women in all parts of the world have derived some of the elements of their success from the educational opportunity given them at Valparaiso. Even in its earlier period the institution outgrew the limits of a normal school. Departments of music and fine art existed from the first. Commercial, collegiate, civil engineering, and law departments were soon added. In 1892 the School of Pharmacy was established. In 1900 the name of the institution was changed to Valparaiso College, and after the addition of other departments the institution was incorporated in 1907 as Valparaiso University. In 1920 the University with all its property Was transferred to a seIf-perpetuating board of trustees as a gift to the cause of education. The institution is not operated for profit7 but in trust for the people. For nearly half a century the Characteristic principles of the institution have been those laid down by Henry Baker Brown at its beginning-hard work, low cost to the student, complete democracy, and the combination of cultural education with definite preparation for a vocation. The present management and the entire faculty are united in the support of these principles and the desire to perpetuate them. In this way the University will remain an enduring monument to the men who made it and an instrument of service to humanity. .. 21 ..