Brooks was from Burlington, Iowa, and he was the first president of Wesleyan who was not an ordained minister of the Methodist church. Brooks received his A.B. from York College, his M.A. from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. from the State University of Iowa. He was also the superintendent of the Burlington Junior College, president of the Iowa Teachers association. He was IWU’s 11th president and served from 1937-1939.
McPherson grew up on an Illinois Farm, attended school and later taught in Cumberland County. He entered the Academy at IWU in 1901 and during his four years in the College of Liberal Arts, he was active in a wide variety of student activities: a member of the Track Team, the Male Quartet, the Glee Club, Oratorical Society, the Oxford Club, Y.M.C.A. Cabinet, Student Council, and Editor-in-Chief of both the Argus and Wesleyana. He graduated in 1906.
McPherson was a student pastor during his last three years at IWU, and after graduation earned his S.T.B. in the school of theology at Boston University. He held several pastorships across the state of Illinois, and was Superintendent of the Springfield School District for three years. He was a member of the Joint Board of Trustees and Visitors for 16 years and at the end of that term of service, IWU conferred upon him a D.D. He was then inaugurated the tenth IWU President in 1932 and served until 1937. He is credited with establishing a unique tuition exchange program that helped keep students enrolled during the Great Depression.
Davidson was born on a farm near Carthage, Illinois. He received his B.S. degree from Chaddock College in 1893, his B.A. from Wesleyan in 1894, and his S.T.B. from Garrett Biblical Institute in 1897. He later returned to Garrett as a professor of religious education for ten years. He served as president of the Board of Trustees for two years and was then executive secretary of the Commission on Life Service of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was also the Chancellor of Nebraska Wesleyan University. He assumed office in September 1922, making him the ninth President of IWU, and the second alumnus President. His term ended in 1932.
Kemp was the serving pastor of the Grace M.E. Church in Bloomington before being elected the 8th president of IWU in 1908. He was born near Rising Sun, Indiana on April 16th, 1868 and moved to Illinois with his parents in 1883. He graduated from DePauw University in 1893. He was an instructor at Wesleyan for a year before becoming president. His presidency ended in 1922.
Barnes was born in England and brought to Canada by his parents when he was four years old. Barnes graduated from Hamline University at St. Paul, Minnesota in 1897 where he became a leader in athletics, debating, and other student activities. Barnes was doing graduate work at Harvard University when he was called to the presidency of Illinois Wesleyan in 1905 and he served until 1908.
Smith was born on August 4th, 1845 in East Livermore, Maine. He was a graduate of Connecticut Wesleyan in 1871. He was later the head of the Montpelier Seminary in Vermont. Smith was an instructor at Wesleyan for two years and then went to Europe. He was elected president in 1898 and served until 1905.
Wilder graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1873, and was the first alumni to become president of the institution. He was born in Greenfield, Illinois on July 7th, 1849. Wilder worked on a farm as a boy and later taught “country school.” He held pastorates in five Illinois towns and was presiding elder of the Decatur district at age 34.
Adams was president of Illinois Wesleyan from 1875-1888. He attended the preparatory department of Northwestern University and was licensed to preach by the age of 19, serving as a student pastor in Chicago. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1863 and within a year was elected lieutenant. Adams organized the first company of African Americans and was later promoted to captain and then to major. After resigning from the military, he went to study at Garrett Biblical Institute and graduated in 1870.
Fallows was born in England and immigrated to Wisconsin with his family in 1848 where he joined the Methodist Church at the age of 19. He studied at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and at the University of Wisconsin. He was the Vice-President and Principal of Galesville University for two years, joined the Union Army in 1862, and served as the chaplain for the 32nd Wisconsin Infantry. He was also a Professor-elect of Natural Sciences at Lawrence and later a superintendent. He became president of Illinois Wesleyan University in 1873.
In 1874 he established a non-resident degree program that awarded Ph.B, M.A., and Ph.D.’s to “professional men and women whose duties and environments are such as to make a resident course of study an impossibility.” (See pp. 38-39 of An historical sketch of the Illinois Wesleyan University, together with a record of alumni: 1857-1895). This was the first-ever distance education program in the United States and it ended in 1910.
In an Argus article published on October 18, 1968, the newly formed Black Students’ Association announced its purpose and goals. Among them were plans to hold a Black Fine Arts Festival (BFAF): “This festival would attempt to show blacks and whites the
quality and diversification of black artists.”
The first event BSA organized was called “Black Resurrection (Pure Suffering)” and received extensive coverage in the alumni publication called The Bulletin. Several photos of the evening’s performances are in the archives and available online. The Argus also contains a photo of the event.
The first week-long event was announced in The Argus on December 3, 1971 and it took place Feb 6-12, 1971. The BFAF was held annually through 1981.
The photo shown here is of a performance by Ernest Kachingwe and his family. Kachingwe was the number one recording artist in Rhodesia, and the only African student at IWU at the time.