Baker Proud Summer 2018 - 8

Founders Day
Celebration of Baker's
160-Year Legacy

n February 8, Baker University celebrated its 160-year legacy during
the annual Founders Day celebration at Baldwin First United Methodist Church. The Rev. Dr. Ira DeSpain, Emeritus Minister to the
University, delivered the keynote address outlining the university's
rich history and its effect on thousands of students. DeSpain, '70, pointed out that
although a student's college career marks a transformational milestone, it's surprising how short those important years are. Three years and nine months, that's
how long most students spend on Baker's campus.
During his keynote address, DeSpain, who served as the minister to the university for 22 years, encouraged students to make the most of their time to learn, to
create memories, and to make history of their own.

HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS
1856: In the first meeting of the Kansas-Nebraska Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church in Lawrence, a Committee on Education is formed to create a Methodist college in
the Kansas Territory.
1857: The Committee on
Education meets at the town
of Palmyra in the cabin of
Henry Barricklow. Eight hundred acres of land nearby is
provided for a university. The
members vote unanimously to
name it after Methodist Bishop Osmon Cleander Baker.
Bishop Osmon
Cleander Baker

John Baldwin, a miller and
philanthropist in Berea, Ohio,
hears about plans to build a
college in Kansas Territory

1858: January: John Baldwin

moves to Kansas Territory. The new
town being built around the university is named for him, and his son
Milton is appointed the first head of
the Baker preparatory department.

John Baldwin

Construction begins on Baker's first
building. It is also the first building
to be built for use by a college in
Kansas.

Old Castle, Baker's first building
August: Milton Baldwin arrives in Kansas, then
dies suddenly after a short illness. John Baldwin is devastated. He leaves his unfinished mills
in Baldwin City and never returns to Kansas.
September: Werter Renick Davis is appointed
Baker University's first president and classes
begin.

1861: President Lincoln donates $100 to Baker University. It is the only known donation to a
university Lincoln made.

Ledger documents Lincoln's donation of $100

1866 class photo

1866: James Cavaness (left), Dolly Willey
(top), and James Hall (right) become the first
three graduates of Baker University. John
Wesley Horner (bottom) was Baker's president
at the time.
1871: Classes begin in

Science Hall, later renamed
for Professor Charles Parmenter. Construction was
not finished, so only one
floor was used.

1874: Baker's new president, Joseph Denison,
Parmenter Hall
comes to Baldwin and
cannot find a house to rent.
He and his family move into the old college
building, which he jokingly calls his "Stirling
Castle." The building is later referred to as the
Old Castle, and the name sticks.
A young William Alfred Quayle begins his
studies in Baker's preparatory department. He
leaves after one year.

1880: William Alfred Quayle returns to Baker
and completes his degree in 1885.
1884: Centenary Hall construction is completed.

1894: The Methodist Church directed BU to
eliminate football. It was reinstated in 1908.
1904: Judge Nelson Case and Andrew
Carnegie provide funds to build Baker's first
freestanding library building. Case Library
opens in 1907.
1905: The first chapter of the Zeta Chi fraternity is established at Baker.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baker Proud Summer 2018