Irvington and the Butler Campus
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History of Irvington
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Butler Before "Butler"
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Life in Irvington
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Irvington - a Perfect Home for Butler
Irvington was founded in 1870 by three Quakers from Centerville: Sylvester Johnson and Jacob and George Julian. The men had been impressed by a model community, Glendale, Ohio. They intended Irvington to be a cultural enclave "free from rum and gambling," embodying refinement and quiet. "Handsome villas" set in tastefully laid out grounds were rising along winding streets. Residents hoped the college would enhance their intellectual and cultural lives, as indeed it did. In the next fifty years the university and the village became a close-knit community, forging ties of social, artistic, and intellectual endeavor" (Waller 83).
Since its founding, Irvington has become a community which continues to pursue its founding abolitionist and Quaker principles of openness and acceptance of all cultures and lifestyles. Irvington is home to a plethora of churches of various faiths, and continues to be one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Indianapolis. Irvington remains a cultural and artistic hub and has grown massively in population and activity, all in part due to its close ties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the academic institution now known as Butler University. The neighborhood is located on the Historic National Road, providing ample transportation into the metropolitan area, and would later be outright annexed by Indianapolis in 1902.
Butler Before Irvington
Butler was located on its campus in Irvington between 1875 and 1928. Throughout its history, the institution has held a number of different names and been located on three different campuses. Butler's history began November 1st, 1855, when North Western Christian University (NWCU) opened its doors with only two professors, two dozen students, and no executive position to its name. NWCU was initially located in the city, at the corner of College Ave. and 13th Street, and was largely the brainchild of Ovid Butler and his colleagues on the founding board. |
From its founding, NWCU pursued liberal and accepting policies - the second female professor in America was NWCU's own Catharine Merrill, who had been given an endowed chair to teach English Literature. As a result, the North Western Christian University began to grow quickly, in spite of the outbreak of the Civil War. By 1871, the total enrollment was up to 335, and increasing rapidly. The university was in dire needs of expansion and running out of money to borrow. The Panic of 1873 caused an economic depression that further worsened NWCU's financial state, and harmed enrollments.
It was evident that in order to continue expanding as it was, the university would need to move; thus, it held a competition among the nearby neighborhoods to determine which would provide the most promising site for a new campus and the best financial support for the all-new facilities. Irvington's offer of $150,000 and twenty-five acres of land proved irresistible, and the university opened its doors once more in the fall of 1875, between Emerson and University Avenues. |
Ovid Butler's health began to decline, and thus in 1871 he resigned as President, but remained Chancellor and a board member. In February of 1877, the university board moved to associate Butler's name with the University in order to recognize all the sacrifices and great leadership of Ovid Butler which were crucial in ensuring the successes of the university. As a result, on February 22, 1877, in its second year at its Irvington campus, North Western Christian University officially became Butler University.
Life on the Irvington Campus
Being located in Irvington, Butler was well-connected to the metropolitan center of Indianapolis. Two rail lines already connected the two districts - Junction and Central Railroads. In 1900, Indianapolis & Greenfield Rapid Transit Co. completed work on a new rail line that straddled Washington Street and the National Road. This line led eastward past Greenfield, and would soon inspire the addition of an electric trolley line for Washington Street. When the trains were unavailable or delayed, there were frequent mule-drawn trolleys traveling down English Avenue into the city. Otherwise, the 4-5 mile journey could be walked or ridden on horseback. |
While the University was innovative in its philosophical principles, it did not seek to change its curriculum with the change in location. Additionally, the University continued to follow a trimester-based school year. This calendar would not be altered until after Butler moved to its current Fairview campus in 1928. Nonetheless, Butler still had a progressive approach to offering electives, as well as various programs in the classics, sciences, and pre-ministerial/philosophical studies. While unaltered, the curriculum continued to be rigorous and well-structured.
During Butler's 53 year tenure in Irvington, the neighborhood became a center-point of student lives. There was only a single dorm on campus which housed about forty students. According to the 1924 student residence report, the university was comprised of 625 men and 665 women. Of those, 976 students commuted from their homes, 66 boarded in houses located in the city, 112 boarded in Irvington houses, 36 lived in the dorm on campus, and 93 lived in the surrounding sororities and fraternities. As a result of the low dorm capacity (it was frequently reserved only for out-of-town women), local residents began to make additional income by leasing bedrooms to Butler students from out of town.
During Butler's 53 year tenure in Irvington, the neighborhood became a center-point of student lives. There was only a single dorm on campus which housed about forty students. According to the 1924 student residence report, the university was comprised of 625 men and 665 women. Of those, 976 students commuted from their homes, 66 boarded in houses located in the city, 112 boarded in Irvington houses, 36 lived in the dorm on campus, and 93 lived in the surrounding sororities and fraternities. As a result of the low dorm capacity (it was frequently reserved only for out-of-town women), local residents began to make additional income by leasing bedrooms to Butler students from out of town.
For those fortunate enough to be housed in the residence hall or near campus, the rules were fairly strict. In general, students were forbidden from any kind of gambling, visiting saloons, or consuming intoxicants; additionally, it was requested that students refrain from cursing and maintain proper morals. Nonetheless, students would often subvert these rules in order to make their own fun. There are many tales of students (especially men) scaling walls to paint and graffiti various structures on campus, blowing out gas lighting fixtures, and coordinating elaborate fraternity pranks to mess with faculty and staff.
The campus, despite its progressive admissions policies, was still very much so representative of the WASP culture of the Midwest - White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. The sheer majority of Butler students was from within the Indianapolis area; very few students came from out of state, and even fewer from an entirely different country. As a result, the student populace generally reflected this local demographic. Nonetheless, in 1887, Gertrude Mahorney became the first black student to graduate from a college in Indiana. She would soon go on to become a teacher in Indianapolis. |