Butler University history

The first woman to graduate from the full four-year program, in 1862, was Demia Butler, daughter of founder Ovid Butler.

Catharine Merrill, was the first to occupy the Demia Butler Chair of English Literature in 1869.

In 1870, Butler became the first university in the nation to establish an endowed chair specifically for a female professor (Catharine Merrill, English literature), and only the second university to appoint a woman to the faculty.

1875 --The university moves from 13th Street and College Avenue to a new 25-acre campus in Irvington.

Kindergarten teacher Eliza Blaker began teaching at the college in 1882 but only under the stipulation that children of all races and genders could attend her school.

Butler’s first documented African-American graduate was Gertrude Amelia Mahorney, who graduated in 1887 and subsequently taught in the Indianapolis Public Schools.

The population of Indianapolis surpassed 100,000 in 1890 and continued to grow rapidly in the 20th century.

The history of the Jordan College of the Arts (JCA), formerly known as the Jordan College of Fine Arts (JCFA), extends back to the year 1895, when the Metropolitan School of Music was founded.

A donation from Edward & Mary Thompson funded the construction of this building in memory of their daughter, Bona, who died shortly after her 1897 graduation from Butler.

The hub of the city, Monument Circle (1901), is the site of the 284.5-foot (87-metre) Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument.

The College of Pharmacy at Butler University originated in 1904 with the founding of the Winona Technical Institute.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909 in suburban Speedway as a test track for local automobile plants.

The institute was insolvent by 1910 and the Indianapolis Public Schools incorporated the pharmacy department for a time.

The first 500-mile (800-km) auto race, held there in 1911, was won by a locally made Marmon race car.

* The athletic teams were known as the "Christians" until the 1919 season when a new nickname was created after fans were unhappy with the name following numerous losses on the football field.

On February 14, 1920, the Kappa Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha was established in Indianapolis.

A July 15, 1922 article in the Daily Reporter states that a meeting of officials of the Christian Church of Greenfield voted unanimously to petition the directors of Butler and ask them to refrain from selecting the old Fairview Park as the site for the college.

In 1927, former university president Robert J. Aley established a new quota system, which would allow no more than 10 students of color to be admitted to Butler each school year.

Classes began on the campus in 1928.

Butler assimilated the Teachers College of Indianapolis to form a College of Education in 1930.

Butler's four-year undergraduate business program began in 1937 and offers B.S. degrees in accounting, risk management/insurance, entrepreneurship, economics, finance, international business, marketing and management information systems.

* The singing group the Four Freshmen got their start in 1947 when all were in their first year at Butler University.

The Jordan College of Music opened in 1951.

1953 -- The Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium installs a 38-inch telescope in its new $250,000 facility.

In 1954, Hinkle Fieldhouse was the site of the historic final when Milan High School (enrollment 161) defeated Muncie Central High School (enrollment over 1,600) to win the state title.

Art Lindbergh, with help from Daggett, designed the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium, which was dedicated in 1955.

The city’s population approached a half million in 1960.

Clowes Memorial Hall (1963) is a performing arts centre noted for its acoustics.

The Butler Fieldhouse, which was renamed Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1966, came to symbolize not only Butler athletics, but also Indiana "Hoosier Hysteria." The building became the combined home of Butler basketball and the Indiana High School state tournament.

The name was changed to the Jordan College of Fine Arts in 1978.

With a total enrollment of only 4,500 students, Butler is the smallest school to play for a national championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

The state final depicted in the 1986 movie , loosely based on the Milan Miracle story, was shot in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The school started WTBU, a PBS member station, on channel 69 in 1988.

Butler won another conference championship in 1994.

The name of the college was changed to College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences when the Physician Assistant program was developed in 1995.

The 1998 squad enjoyed national rankings as high as No.

The Butler library building was renovated by the Irvington Historical Society in 2000 and now serves as the society’s headquarters and a community arts and cultural center.

In 2001, the Fairbanks Center for Communication and Technology was opened to house the school's communication programs of communication studies, journalism, and media arts as well as computer science.

2003 -- In February, the university dedicates a 48,000-square-foot expansion of Lilly Hall, the first step in a four-phase, $30.5 million Performing Arts Complex.

Butler built the 85,000-square-foot (7,900 m) Health and Recreation Complex (HRC) in 2005.

The Apartment Village also opened in 2006 as housing for juniors and seniors.

In 2009, Butler won its 32nd league title by winning the Pioneer Football League championship under Coach Jeff Voris.

8 in the country, and the 2010 squad finished the regular season as the only undefeated team nationally and were ranked as high as No.

The Modern Language Center (MLC), located in the northwest wing of Jordan Hall and renovated in 2011, is the home for the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and serves as a resource center and language library for student and faculty media needs in the department.

Remembering our first Memorial - July 2012

On March 20, 2013, it was officially announced that Butler would leave the Atlantic 10 Conference, and became a founding member of the new Big East Conference July 1, 2013.

What did downtown Greenfield first look like? - September 2014

BUPD officer staff hits full capacity - February 12, 2019

17-23 - February 16, 2020 The week ahead in Butler sports: Feb.