Berea College history

The commitment to Appalachia, however, began as early as 1858 when Rogers, after a trip through the mountains, identified the region as a “neglected part of the country” for which Berea was founded to serve.

Fee spent the Civil War years raising funds for the school; in 1865, he and his followers returned.

In 1866, Berea's first full year after the Civil War, it registered 187 students (96 African Americans and 91 white) who took preparatory study classes to ready them for college-level courses.

The first Berea College president was appointed in 1869.

Construction itself finally began in 1907, based on designs submitted by the New York-based architectural firm “Cady & See.” The blueprints cost some $20,000 to produce and called for the development of a gorgeous, Colonial Revival-style edifice.

Open since 1909, learn about the hotel’s brilliant history and wonderful facilities from those who watch over it every day.

Yet, the marriage was strained by their two dueling personalities, as well as the demands of her husband’s early political career. It was Eleanor who encouraged Franklin to remain in politics when he was beset with polio in 1921.

In 1925, famed advertiser Bruce Barton, a future congressman, sent a letter to 24 wealthy men in America to raise funds for the college.

A graduate of Columbia University, Hougen began managing the Boone Tavern Hotel in 1940.

When the Day Law was amended in 1950 to allow integration above the high school level, Berea was the first college in Kentucky to reopen its doors to black students.

When Kennedy won in 1960, she became his representative to such organizations like the National Advisory Committee to the Peace Corps.

Then, in 1961, Kennedy appointed her as the First Chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.

R. Wayne Tolliver, D.B.A. (Berea, 1975) joins the faculty.

A solid investment strategy increased the endowment from $150 million in 1985 to its current amount.

Approval for an office manager staff position; Susan Burberry hired (to 1988).

She also was invited to be the first poet since Robert Frost to speak at a presidential inauguration, performing her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” in 1993.

1996: The United States Department of the Interior listed the Boone Tavern Hotel at Berea College on the National Register of Historic Places.

Martie Kazura becomes the first female Chairperson of the Department (to 2002). Courses include “Team Initiated Study” and “Directed Study.”

The endowment stands at $950 million, down from its 2007 height of $1.1 billion.