Events

Thanks to the grant funding received this past summer, the roof near the bell tower has been repaired and it no longer leaks during rainstorms. That has allowed the board to focus on other projects that are on the “To Do” list, including the plaster repair work in the…

Visitors to the college in June this year included local photographer Cindy Porter, whose “United Colors” project is comprised of photos featuring her two daughters and their friends as models to illustrate and celebrate the diversity found in Madison and Jefferson County. While the summer-time open house events were…

We’re off and running, working toward meeting the benchmarks in our Strategic Plan. Back in the fourth quarter of 2018, I continued to focus on the excellent strategic plan started by Woodburn & Kyle. I hope to build on that framework and con­tinue to revise and adJust our benchmark…

The Indiana Historical Society is bringing it’s “Underground Railroad Tour” to Jefferson County March 21 and March 28, 2019. This is the third year for the event and the first time the tour has come to the Madison area. Historian Jeannie Regan-Dinius of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources…

Thanks to our generous contributors, we raised more than $5,000 last year to cover our operating expens­es. Our biggest expense the past 10 years has been a $108,000 loan, which included a balloon payment due in this year. With help from our local MainSource bank manager, we were able…

The Robert Jefferson family’s history includes two Eleutherian students in the 1850s. Who were they? That is the most important question for researchers interested in the students who were educated at Historic Eleutherian College – from it’s inception in the late 1840s as a place where all children could…

Not long after settlers came to Jefferson County, Indiana, a group of Baptists formed the Neil’s Creek Anti-Slavery Society in 1839, in a town named Lancaster. They brought in speakers and collected dues, but were more than a social organization. These families were involved with the local workings of…

For Neil’s Creek abolitionists, Eleutherian College was a shining beacon of freedom Today the word ‘Eleutherian’ has a strange sound and is seldom used. It’s tied to classical Greek, part of the Greek Revival period in vogue during the 1840s and 1850s, when the folks of the Neil’s Creek…

Which Thomas Walker was the one listed as a student in the 1857-58 catalog? The puzzle pieces: A student listed in the 1857/58 Eleutherian College catalog: Thomas Walker, College Hill, Indiana. In the 1828, 1830 and 1831 Madison property tax rolls, Amos Phillips is listed living on Lot 75….

Everyone likes to be on the winning team! And I am pleased to announce that we have a winner! In 2017 Historic Eleutherian College will unveil the results of a two-year restoration project. And it’s not too late to join the team. For the past two years the first…