Wheaton Academy - Compass Yearbook (Wheaton, IL)

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. . . but Wheaton stood firm Jonathan Blanchard not only lifted Wheaton out of its financial rut, but by his great efforts, the west end of the main building of Wheaton College, now called Blanchard Hall, was com- pleted, where for many years Academy classes were held. Not only were the material resources of Wheaton strengthened during the administration of Jonathan Blanchard, but this man of God embodied a solidarity of purpose which has been so vital and unique a part of the person- ality of the academy throughout these one hundred years. During Jonathan Blanchard's Administration, he had to cope with some dif- ficult problems. At times most bitter conflicts emerged, but like America's Civil War, these conflicts were consummated in victory for the right. Under President Blanchard's positive lead- ership, opposition only served to strengthen and clarify the original position of the founding fathers. Had not this direct opposition from within and without taken place in these early years to strengthen and crystallize Wheaton's evangelical position perhaps her firm stand, For Christ and His Kingdom would have been undermined or destroyed by 1953. Built to be used as the lndustrial Building, this building housed Wheaton College Academy from 1914 to 1944. The principals of the academy up until 1872 were, Eliot Whipple - 1866-1869 Jacob Ellis - 1869-1870 W. H. Fischer - 1870-1872 In 1872, Charles A. Blanchard was asked by the president, this own fatherh to become principal of the academy. He kept this position for five years. In 1877, he became vice-president of the college, and later, when his father retired in 1882, he was elected by the trustees to the presidency. President Charles A. Blanchard, like his father, proved to be a man of great vision. Under his administration, new building plans were launched which greatly increased the fa- cilities of the College, and hence, of the Acad- emy. Until 1914, Academy and College students used the same classrooms and dormitories, at- tended the same social functions, and studied under the same faculty. But included in Presi- dent Blanchard's building plans was one ln- dustrial Building built in 1902. ln 1914, this building was designated for academy use, the first in a series of steps toward giving the acad- emy a heritage of its own.

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Blanchard Hall as it looked in 1880 before the east wing was added. 9 .W , ,:46,,,?,, When Blanchard resigned from Knox, he was offered various important pastorates, and the presidencies of several colleges. But he chose Wheaton because in his own words, . . . I be- lieved the Lord had need of Wheaton College, to aid the way for His coming. The state of our nation at this time will explain this. lt was 1859, and the state of our nation at this time was one of dissension, fast-mounting prejudices, and hot, embittered resentment. The Civil War was in the making. After Jonathan Blanchard arrived at Wheat- on, two maior changes in the mechanism of the school were made. First, the control was changed from the auspices of the Wesleyans to that of the Congregationalists. Second, the College and Academy, by a new charter were called Wheat- on College and Wheaton College Academy. Section eleven of Charter and By-laws of Wheaton College The Charter of the 'Illinois Institute' en- acted by the legislature of the state of Illinois, and approved February 15, 1855, is hereby repealed, and the present char- ter substituted in its place, and all manner of property, privileges, and immunities, therein granted to the trustees of the 'Illin- to vest cis Institute' are hereby declared in the trustees of Wheaton College, and all of the debts, contracts, and obligations former institution are good in law against the trustees of Wheaton College. The new name came about when, after Warren L. Wheaton had made a generous gift of land to the school, a friend and trustee, Dr. A. H. Hiatt proposed that the college and acad- emy should be called Wheaton. Rev. George P. Kimball became dean of the academy in 1863, and was followed by Bartlett Hardy Weston two years later, at the end of the Civil War. The Civil War shook a nation . . .

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Darien A. Straw was dean of the Academy from 1882-1910. He assisted in raising the aca- demic standards of the Academy. Dr. Straw was succeeded by Dean Walter S. Pemberton who remained in office until 1915. William F. Rice then became the new dean. When Dr. Rice began his term of service, the nation was headed towards World War I. But, although stormy years were ahead for the nation, and indeed, the whole world, Wheaton Academy was being led by a man of vision and years of promise lay ahead for the school. Under the administration of Dr. Rice, the Acad- emy became a member of the North Central As- sociation, and as such, an accredited school of Class A. This rating is still maintained today. Jesse W. Doolittle was dean of the Academy from 1922-1924. A highlight of these years was the organization of the first distinct Academy literary society. The idea was proposed to the senior class who enthusiastically took it up. They called themselves the Kreitonians . In 1924, when Edward R. Schell became dean, Wheaton Academy had come a long way from the unfinished stone building on the barren prairie in 1853. And Dean Schell saw even great- er things ahead. One instance of the way he worked is the story of the library. ln 1924, when Dean Schell was installed, the library consisted of a small bookcase containing a few technical books. But when he left in 1949, the Academy library boasted 2500 circulating books, twenty complete sets of reference books, and one hun- dred pamphlets. During a year's leave of absence for Dean Schell, to do graduate study in 1927, Enoch C. Dyrness served as acting Dean, leaving this position in 1928 to become Registrar of the col- lege. Many changes in curriculum were made during these twenty-five years to aid students in a changing society. Some of the newer courses added were, industrial geography, commercial law, home economics, American democracy, typing, physiology, general science, and journal- ism. Miss Gudrun Thorlakson, in her History of Wheaton Academy, wrote in 1944, of Dean Schell's administration, Under Dean Schell there has been constant progress, there is nothing static in his administration. Every part of the building is being utilized, and plans for greater efficiency are constantly being made. ln 1945, the College trustees purchased the Prince Crossing School for Crippled Children from the University of Chicago. Mr. C. B. Hurst was director of the Academy the first year on its new campus. After one year Dean Schell took over the administrative reins again. Many changes were made in the campus 18 Dr. Darien A. Straw, Dean from 1882 to 1910. Devoted to the work of the Academy, he did much to put the school on a sound basis, scholastically and materially and in the buildings to facilitate normal school life, so that by 1949, when Dean Schell retired, the school was completely equipped with boys' and girls' dormitories, ten classrooms, library, kitchen and dining facilities, a large modern gymnasium, and accomodations for five faculty families. In 1949, Rev. Robert l. Gilbert succeeded Dean Schell as Director of the Academy. Under his administration, plans were made and com- pleted for the chapel which is now one of the most attractive buildings on the campus. The great moving of the Lord at Wheaton College in 1950, which came to be known in newspapers across the land, as the Wheaton revival , really began the week before at the Academy, when Torrey Johnson of the Youth for Christ movement was speaker at the fall evangelistic services. The words of the anony- mous alumnus of 1855 fit. . . . many students were led to come out on the Lord's side . . . In 1953'Rev. Gilbert left the academy to serve the Lord at the First Baptist Church in Wheaton. He was succeeded for a semester by Mr. Thomas J. Crofts, whose tireless efforts brought about many improvements in the phys- ical plant of the school. Years of labor . . .