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Take a walk through the K-State campus today and you’ll see a diversity of students - free
to make their own choices, pursuing their individual goals and dreams.
But how did we get here? History isn’t just buildings, dates and
documents, it’s blood, sweat, beliefs, determination – it is people.
In the early 1800s, the East Coast and the West Coast weren’t yet connected by the
railroad or telegraph. You walked, rode a horse or traveled by wagon,
if possible by steamboat and ferry. Trips that take hours today took days, weeks,
even months. The Oregon and Santa Fe trails were the “highways” and they were only
ruts in the prairie. At the time of the Missouri Compromise of
1820, 15 of the 30 States in the Union were Free, and the other 15 were Slave. Congress
struggled mightily with the issue of slavery, and the “Compromise of 1850”, set the
stage for Kansas (and other territories) to determine by popular vote whether it was to
become a free or “slave” state. Inhabitants from the bordering slave state
of Missouri flooded to the Kansas territory to influence the ultimate decision.
Others, many from the Northeast, encouraged anti-slavery advocates to come and settle
in Kansas. Among those who heeded the call was Isaac Goodnow, from Providence, Rhode
Island, a teacher and minister, his wife, Ellen Dennison, and his brother-in-law, the
Reverend Joseph of Boston. Charles Blood and his wife Mary were part
of the first settlement New Boston. In 1855, nearly 80 men, women and children
boarded the steamship “Hartford” under the sponsorship of the Cincinnati and Kansas
Land Company –bound for the Kansas Territory. They brought at least ten prefabricated houses;
material for business buildings; and provisions. Like those before them, these were educated
men and women, judges, educators, ministers, business men and women, and they set about
to establish a progressive, thriving settlement, with a strong belief that education for all
was key to an enlightened society. In 1858, nine of these early settlers obtained
a charter from the Territory of Kansas assembly, a charter for the Bluemont Central College
Association. Backed by their beliefs and their hard-earned
personal funds, the cornerstone for this college was laid in May of 1859. By January of 1860,
a three story limestone building was opened, with the Reverend Washington Marlatt as principal
and Miss Julia Bailey, the first teacher hired. 53 students were enrolled that Winter. Kansas
was still a territory. A territory in considerable turmoil
In January 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a “free” state,
One month later, the Bluemont College Association offered to donate its building, library and
land to the new State of Kansas in exchange for its designation as the State University.
Though this offer was rejected by the Governor, a Lawrence native, the wheels had been put
in motion for Bluemont Central College to one day become a State educational institution.
In 1862, Justin Smith Morrill, a Vermont congressman, introduced the Land Grant College Act, a “grand
idea” to promote education in each State of the Union. The Morrill Act passed that
same year, and was signed by President Abraham Lincoln.
When the provisions of this new act were accepted by the new State of Kansas in 1863, The Bluemont
Central College Association acted quickly, and again offered the college building, library
and land to be the state. On February 16, 1863, Kansas State Agricultural
College became a reality, the nation’s first Land Grant College.
It opened in Sept. 1863, with 52 students 26 men and 26 women.
In a nation ripped apart by the issue of slavery; In the midst of a devastating Civil War; these
early founders’ determination, beliefs, blood and courage, established the principles
of educational opportunities for all people. As we walk across campus today, we see smartphones,
laptops, things that didn’t exist in 1863 – but the most important thing, the principle
of freedom, and the opportunity of an education for all, has been here from the beginning!