Augustana College history

In 1861, five graduates of the seminary were ordained on June 9, thus the first "commencement."

In 1862, the seminary closed early so that Esbjorn could return to Sweden to raise money for the school.

The school moved to Paxton, Illinois, and Tuve N. Hasselquist became president in 1863.

They purchased a building in Marshall, Wisconsin, and in 1869 formed the Augsburg Seminary and Marshall Academy (photo on left). Wisconsin farmer and Norwegian immigrant Endre Endresen Eidsvaag gave a bell to the school.

A year later, in 1870, the Norwegian Augustana Synod was founded.

Augsburg Seminary and Professor Weenaas left Marshall and relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1872.

By 1875, when the initial dream of creating a Swedish pioneer community in Paxton proved to be unrealistic, Augustana moved to Rock Island, a more central location among the growing number of Augustana Synod congregations.

David Lysnes was named fifth president in 1876, and the school is re-named Salem's Seminary and Marshall Academy.

Court action followed for two years when finally, following an out-of-court settlement, the bell arrived in Beloit in September 1883.

In 1884 with the institution needing more room, a group of Canton, South Dakota, citizens across the Big Sioux River pooled their money and bought the Naylor Hotel and offered the building to the Augustana Synod — with the condition that the school move from Beloit to Canton.

Henry M. Solem was awarded the first Bachelor of Arts degree in 1888.

Twenty-five miles to the north in Sioux Falls, the Lutheran Normal School opened its doors in 1889.

Due to the economic panic of 1893, the church withdrew support from the school and it was leased to Tuve.

In 1895, the Augustana College Association was formed to operate the college.

All "firsts" identified are associated with Augustana College and not the Lutheran Normal School (LNS). For instance, the first band at LNS was in 1896.

His successor was Doctor Gustav Andreen, who became Augustana's youngest president when he was called to the school in 1901.

By 1903, the College moved into a permanent home, its first in 43 years, on the east side of Canton along with the Eidsvaag Bell.

In Sioux Falls at the Lutheran Normal School, Ladies Hall — now known as East Hall — is built in 1905 to house girls.

Back in Canton, in 1908, the first college paper, The Augustana, was published.

Frederick C.A. Denkmann in 1910, to fund construction of the Denkmann Memorial Library.

The Augustana Concert Choir was founded by Doctor Carl Youngdahl in 1921.

Augustana helped to create the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO) in 1922.

In 1923, Miss Julia Tisthammer received the first Bachelor of Arts degree awarded by the consolidated Augustana College and Normal School.

The Edda, the school yearbook, was first published in 1928, and for three straight years received All-American ratings.

In 1933, the college purchased a home for the president at the corner of 26th Street and Duluth Avenue.

In 1936, the Augustana forensics squad placed first in the nation at the Pi Kappa Delta speech tournament in Houston, Texas, and the football team won their fifth straight SDIC conference championship.

The nursing program was developed; Olson's football teams won 10 of 11 conference championships in the SDIC; Augustana joined the North Central Conference (NCC) in 1942.

Augustana graduated its first international student, Kari Prydz of Norway, in 1947.

Six major buildings were erected during Bergendoff's presidency, but no achievement was of greater satisfaction to him than securing an Augustana chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1949.

Augustana was the first Lutheran college to offer a major in deaf education in 1953.

Augustana ventured into educational television as Doctor Don Fryxell taught a course in World Literature on KELO-TV in 1957.

The Centennial Year celebration began on June 1, 1960.

Granskou and Stavig Halls were dedicated in 1969.

The college adopted a 4-1-4 academic calendar; the football stadium made way for a new Humanities Center and The Center for Western Studies was created in 1970, with Doctor Herbert Krause as its first director.

In 1974, Augustana College received its then-largest single gift, $1.5 million from college board member Roy J. Carver, as well as its largest foundation grant, $259,000 from the Lilly Endowment.

In 1975, jazz great Woody Herman performed on campus.

Augustana welcomed its largest class since 1978 of more than 2,100 new and returning undergraduate and graduate students.

Doctor Sidney Rand served for one year as the college's 18th president beginning in 1986.

In 1988, Augustana established ties to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a body of about 4 million American Lutherans formed in that year.

The Elmen Center opened in 1989.

In 1997, Terry Waite, Advisor on Foreign Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury and former hostage, spoke at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.

In 1998, the Nelson Service Center was built.

The Augustana Band was the first collegiate band to perform in the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea in 1999; the Madsen Center was dedicated; Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at the Boe Forum.

The Fantle Building, housing The Center for Western Studies, was dedicated in 2001, and Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan spoke at the Boe Forum.

Rob Oliver was inaugurated as Augustana's 23rd president, and the Center for Visual Arts was dedicated in 2006.

To assist in the implementation of the strategic plan, Authentically Augustana: A Call to Action — a $100 million comprehensive fundraising campaign, the greatest in the college's history — was launched in 2008.

On June 5, 2010, Augustana President Rob Oliver and Augustana-Rock Island President Steve Bahls commemorated the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod during a ceremony at Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church in Poplar Grove, Illinois.

Jon Huntsman, spoke at the Boe Forum on Public Affairs in 2013.

In 2017, former congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin became Augustana's 24th president and first female leader.

In September 2018, Augustana announced the creation of an online master's degree in special education.

In September 2019, Augustana was named a Top 10 regional university for the first time by United States News & World Report – ranking #9 in Best Regional Universities in the Midwest.

In April 2020, Augustana announced Doctor Laurie Daily as the inaugural Dean of the School of Education.