Looking back, I realize it’s been a long time since we’ve had an official newsletter. The whole world, it seems, shut down in the midst of the COVID pandemic in March 2020. The Historic Eleutherian College (HEC) board cancelled public events and suspended in-person meetings for more than a year.

Still, HEC has found its footing and is off to the races!

Thanks to generous grants from the Indiana Historical Society and the Cox Fund, as well as hours of volunteer labor from Indiana Landmarks and Madison Consolidated High School (MCHS) students, we have tackled some major repairs to the College building.

The leaking roof and the bell tower have been repaired. The entryway has been plastered and painted. We have created new displays, a brochure, and a video tour of the building.

Funded by a $2,500 Lilly Scholars Grant, MCHS graduate Ben Hardin and his family built an outdoor classroom on the College property.

Other grants have enabled us to have the chimney flashed at the for-mer visitors center.

And this June, the staff at Indiana Landmarks spent a second Day of Service with us. Last year, they painted the entryway; this year, they helped us fill a dumpster with debris that was removed from the Hoyt House.

The Community Foundation of Madison & Jefferson County and a second Lilly Scholars Grant funded our first Summer Science Institute the brainchild of one of our newest board members, Emeka Koren, who teaches science and math at MCHS.

Our inaugural institute was staffed by a very talented group of educational leaders and was attended by a group of rising students who are entering high school as freshman this fall.

The institute enabled us to return the College to its “highest and best use” as an educational institution. The goal of the institute is to encourage students of color to consider becoming science teachers for public schools in Indiana, of which there are far too few.

Plans for 2023 include expanding the program to incoming sophomores, as well as incoming freshmen.

Continuing Research

Mark Furnish. Ph.D., continues to research the students who attended HEC in the 19th Century.

Board Secretary Phyllis McLaughlin is building a case that Thomas Jefferson’s granddaughters did, in fact, attend Eleutherian College. Her research is based on genetic genealogy. (See this post for photos and more information.) The project will result in the publication of a book about Eleutherian and its legacy.

And in partnership with the Jefferson County History Center, we are developing a premium Underground Railroad tour for the American Queen Steamboat Company’s Shore Excursion that will include Stream Cliff Farms.

Welcome to the Board

We have welcomed several new board members since 2020: Erica Cline, the Jefferson County historian; Mark Bahlke, Emeka Koren, and Ed Stigall. We also welcomed back to the board Dave Harden and Meghan Brown Bahlke.

In Memorium

Board Member Emeritus Elbert Hinds died last fall. Even in death, Elbert showed his love for HEC and its mission by giving a generous bequest to the HEC Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation.

Tours, Visits, and Other News

In 2021, we began offering tours by appointment. Visitors have included descendants of Eleutherian founders, including the Craven and the Tibbetts families. Other visitors included Elbert’s friends from Dupont, Ind.; a visitor from Ukraine; a kayaker from Taipei; the Covered Bridge Society of Indiana; the Model A Club; and the board of directors of Indiana Land-marks.

It’s easy to schedule a tour: Just give us a call at (812) 748-2540 or send an email to HistoricEleutherian-College@gmail.com. We look forward to sharing with you, in person, all that’s happening at the Historic Eleutherian College.

How to Support Our Mission

Your donations go a long way toward maintaining this National Historic Landmark by helping us match grants from local, state, and national organizations that fund various projects: the Summer Institute, preservation of the college building, maintenance of the grounds, the old visitors center and the Hoyt House, as well as telling its history as a college and, later, as a township school.

Visit the Support Us page to make a donation online or send a donation by check.

Legacy gifts to the HEC Endowment at the Community Foundation ensure the college has an annual income long into the future.

– Jan Vethrus