1820.\nIn this year Edward Bransfield discovered Antarctica, the tomato was proven non-poisonous and the Indiana Seminary School was founded Jan. 20 as the first state seminary school to be located in Bloomington. This established the beginnings of what became IU.\nSince then, 185 years have gone by with many changes to the University since its establishment.\nEven the name of the University has changed. IU was called the Indiana Seminary School upon its conception and was renamed Indiana University in 1838. Although a seminary school today refers to a place of religious study, in the 1800s it was simply a term for education.\n"People have the mistaken perception of what a seminary school is," said Jim Capshew, professor of history and philosophy of science and co-creator of the "Traditions and Cultures of IU" course, a class that looks at IU's history from 1820 to the present day. "The name was used in that time as a place of education but it has always been a secular school; there were never any religious requirements for students, faculty and staff."\nHowever, as per standard educational requirements, IU's original students did attend chapel. This was part of the Indiana Seminary School's goal of creating a well-rounded education for students on a beautiful campus in the woods.
Breaking Ground\nIn the original Indiana constitution, Chapter XLVIII, Section 2 states, "The trustees aforesaid, or a majority of them, shall meet at Bloomington, in the county of Monroe, on the first Monday in June next ... shall repair to the reserved township of land in said county, which was granted by Congress to this state, for the use of a seminary of learning, and proceed to select an eligible and convenient site for a state seminary."\nThe article allowed the appointed trustees of the seminary, Charles Dewy, Jonathan Lindley, David Maxwell, John Jenkins, Jonathan Nichols and William Lowe to begin the process of finding ground to place the school.\nThey chose the land now known as Seminary Square, a park located at the intersection of College Avenue and Second Street, which housed just a handful of IU's initial buildings. There are few symbols of what originally sat at the square, yet it is marked with plaques recognizing the people and the places important in IU's history.\nGround was broken for the new Indiana Seminary School in 1822, and classes were first taught either at the end of 1824 or the beginning of 1825.\nThe first original structure, called the Seminary building, was designed after Princeton University's Nassau Hall and was 60 feet long and 31 feet wide. It housed a library, an office and a few classrooms. The office was held by the Seminary's first administrator and professor, Baynard Rush Hall, who was in fact the only faculty member the school had at the time.\nMaxwell, one of the original trustees, was then a local physician and is now known as the "father of Indiana University." He was not only able to push the state legislature to place the University in Bloomington but also helped keep the University there in later years after Indianapolis was created in 1821. After the College building, one of the two educational halls, caught fire, the state legislature saw the University fit to be moved 50 miles north. Maxwell stopped this. Instead, the college moved to its present location at the "Old Crescent" in 1883.
Bloomington, then and now\nBloomington's population has multiplied to almost 70,000 today.\n"Bloomington during (the 1800s) was at the geographical center and northernmost boundary of the state," Capshew said. "(Bloomington) was created in the woods and people either walked trails, rode by horseback or stagecoach to get here. The population was about 300 and there weren't very many jobs available."\nDespite IU's small beginnings, greater endeavors awaited as its first class of 10 students has become a class of more than 37,000 today.\nIn many ways, the University has remained the same since its conception. It has kept the founders' original goals of having a beautiful campus and providing students a well-rounded education.\nInterim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said he has always been interested in the history of IU, from the trends to the people involved.\n"Over the years there were student fads from people smoking a peace pipe to people wearing green beanies," he said. "IU expanded greatly under Herman B Wells and he is important because he was able to diversify the campus with the addition of the international population."\nThe campus location, the size of the University and the way it is administered have all changed in the past 185 years. But the central aspects of the University have not: to give students 185 years worth of opportunities to succeed.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Ryne Shadday at rshadday@indiana.edu.
