Military History Civil War 1861-1865

Samuel R. AdamsWilliam PierceMoores Hill College’s first president, Samuel R.

Adams, felt it was his duty to join the many malestudents enlisting in the war and traveled to Indi-anapolis to enlist in the Union Army in late August1861. Adams was eventually mustered out as thechaplain of the 26th Indiana Regiment of Volun-teers. Sadly, in December of the following year, hedied of typhoid fever in Springfield, Missouri.

When President Robert Brewington resigned fromMoores Hill to join the Union Army in 1862,William Pierce became the third president. Notlong after taking over, Pierce also left his presidencyto join the fight but was wounded early in his careeras a soldier. Pierce returned to his post as MooresHill’s president for the 1863-64 school year.

The Civil War had a great impact on the male student enrollment of MooresHill College. The average enrollment for the first five years of the college was30. As you can see in the table below, once the Civil War started, male enroll-ment dropped dramatically. The year after the war ended, male enrollmentwas back up to its pre-war average. Due to the lack of records, it is impossibleto determine if the students who enrolled after the war were returning or newstudents.

Male Attendance at Moores Hill CollegeCivil War Attendance by Year

1861-62 161862-63 101863-64 171864-65 14

Post-Civil War Attendance by Year1865-66 271866-67 No Catalog1867-68 32

UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE

Credits: University archives, LinC yearbook,We Face the Future Unafraid, by George Klinger. Text compiled by Elizabeth Bostelman ’12.

The University of Evansville has always had associations with veterans, stretch-ing back to Moores Hill Male and Female Collegiate Institute, the institutionthat preceded the University of Evansville. Founded in 1854, the college expe-rienced seven years of peace before the Civil War broke out.

Carnegie Hall on Moores Hill College campus

Thanksgiving Day in the Army, After Dinner: The Wishboneby Winslow Homer, published December 3, 1864

Many male students left campus to join the war effortand probably spent their holidays like the men in theengraving above.

Samuel R. Adams

Military HistoryWorld War I 1914-1918

The most influential World War I veteran at EvansvilleCollege was Ralph Olmsted. Olmsted served as the chiefeditor of the Crescent newspaper for many years. Aftergraduating in 1923, he was appointed executive secretaryunder President Alfred Hughes, and he held the positionfor 39 years. In recognition of his service to the Univer-sity, the Administration Hall was renamed OlmstedAdministration Hall in 1981. As part of Evansville Col-lege’s second graduating class, Olmsted noted that he wastruly invested in the building because he had been one ofthe students who helped pull the plow that broke groundfor the building in 1921.

UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE

Credits: University archives,We Face the Future Unafraid, by George Klinger, Evansville Courier & Press. Text compiled by Elizabeth Bostelman ’12.

There were 17 World War Iveterans enrolled when Evans-ville College opened its doors in1919. These 16 servicemen andone servicewoman participatedin a ceremony that was part ofEvansville’s centenary celebra-tion. Each veteran was awardeda metal by General LeonardWood and by the mother of thefirst American soldier to die inWorld War I, who was a nativeof Evansville.

By World War I, Moores Hill Col-lege had run into financial difficul-ties, and its administration was insearch of drastic measures to survive.Richard S. Clifford, a prominent busi-ness leader from Evansville, Indiana,believed that the southwestern cityneeded a college and that Moores HillCollege would be a perfect fit. He wroteto the college’s administration to proposethat the school be moved to Evansville.

When Clifford’s letter arrived, the college was in the process ofcompleting a merger with DePauw University. However, whenthe merger fell through, Moores Hill pursued the opportunity inEvansville. The people of Evansville worked hard to raise thefunds required, and in December of 1917 they reached their goal.In 1919, the newly renamed Evansville College opened its doors.

James Bethel Gresham was the firstenlisted United States soldier to bekilled in World War I. His mother pre-sented the 17 Evansville College veter-ans with metals during EvansvilleCollege’s centenary celebration.

During World War I, Moores Hill College moved from Moores Hill, Indiana, to Evansville, Indiana, and became Evansville College.A majority of the records preserved in the University archives from that period are records detailing discussions about the move;however, throughout the documents there is discussion about the provisions that Moores Hill College made for men leaving to servein World War I. For example, in faculty meeting minutes from April 1917, “it was decided to give the regular credits to those enlistingfor war, provided that the student’s record is clear.” It is only after the college’s move to Evansville that there is clear evidence of WorldWar I veterans on campus.

Ralph Olmsted

Credits: University archives, Crescent newspaper,We Face the Future Unafraid, by George Klinger. Text compiled by Elizabeth Bostelman ’12.

Military HistoryWorld War II 1939-1945

UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE

Crescent December 12, 1941

A regular article in the Crescent newspaper was the “College Service Roll.” This section, edited by Ralph Olmsted, detailedaddress changes of servicemen, noted their leaves and furloughs, and even published excerpts from letters they sent toEvansville College. In March 1943, copies of the Crescent started being sent to the 275 alumni serving in the military.

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Lincoln Hale announced to studentsand faculty that the United States was at war with Japan. His sobering words echoedthose of America’s leadership: a call to action and a call to perseverance.

In May 1941 Evansville College introduced defense courses for students. One course provided students with aprivate pilot’s license, allowing men to “be ready to go when their country calls them, and will have alreadyhad the basic training necessary to be aviators.” This was fortuitous planning because within seven months,Pearl Harbor was bombed, and the United States was at war.

Evansville College has had many World War IIveterans come through its doors as students, fac-ulty, and administrators. One of the most well-known World War II veteran administrators islate president emeritus Wallace Graves whoserved as UE’s president from 1967 to 1987.Graves was a forward observer for the UnitedStates Army. On the night of September 14, 1944,he was captured by the Germans and shipped to Stalag III-C inKeustrin, Germany, which is about 60 miles from the easternborder of Poland. He remained there for six months wearing thesame clothes in which he was captured and living in a facilitywithout running water. As they were preparing to ship him toanother camp, guards were distracted by a skirmish and Gravesand a few other prisoners were able to escape. They wanderedthroughout Poland and Russia for two months trying to reachAmerican authorities, while their families and friends did notknow their fate, only that they were missing in action. Finally,in April 1945, Graves was one of 200 American ex-prisoners whoreturned home to the United States. When asked about the effecthis war-time experience had on him, he said, “I wouldn’t ask forthat experience again, but having had it kept me from beingafraid of most anything else in life. It gave me perspective.”

Not all stories have a happy end-ing. A total of 26 EvansvilleCollege servicemen werekilled or missing in actionby the end of the war,including Second Lieu-tenant Arthur Parkhurstwhose C-47 cargo planewent down in the Philip-

pines in March 1945. The yearhe would have graduated, Parkhurst wasdeclared killed in action. Forty-four yearslater, his dog tags and remains were discov-ered by a Philippine farmer. Once Parkhurst’sremains were positively identified usingmitochondrial DNA from his brother andsister, the long process of bringing himhome began. Parkhurst’s return home wascompleted in 2010, when he was buriedwith military honors in Xenia, Ohio. Hisstory stands as testament to those whonever returned.

The fund-raising conducted by EvansvilleCollege students during the war years wasstaggering. The goals of the many fund-raisers were usually met and oftenexceeded. The effort and dedication of thestudents to help soldiers during the warand provide for their return was incredi-ble. Students raised funds not only for thewar effort itself but also for post-warbuilding on campus including the warmemorial in McCurdy Alumni MemorialUnion Building, which was renovated in2007 and incorporated in the SchroederFamily School of Business AdministrationBuilding.

Evansville College’s total enrollment dur-ing the war averaged between 280 and400 students. Due to the passing of theGI Bill, enrollment jumped over threetimes to 1,505 for the 1946 fall semester.This surplus of students caused a lack ofhousing. President Lincoln Haleannounced that 13 surplus barracks

would be erected on campus to provide more housing forveterans. Each unit was divided into two apartments and cost about 25dollars a month. Very quickly the College Court Apartments were nick-named Tin City, due to the aluminum that sided the buildings. Theunits were demolished in 1961 to make room for Moore Residence Hall,Krannert Hall of Fine Arts, Wheeler Concert Hall, and Neu Chapel.

In the fall of 1945, 20 percent ofthe freshman class was composedof veterans. Veterans organized anex-servicemen’s group to provideservices and a social outlet for theveterans, many of whom werestepping foot onto a college cam-pus for the first time.

1944 Crescentnewspaper staff

1947 Crescentnewspaper staff

The campus was affected by the number of men who leftto serve their country. The LinC yearbook photos providethe best visual evidence of the lack of men on campus. In1944, just before the end of World War II, the Crescentstaff was composed completely of women. Then, in 1947,the Crescent staff comprised both men and women.

In 2003, the Department of Archaeology and Art History began an excavationon the site of Tin City, post-WWII housing for student veterans and their families,as part of the Field Techniques course used to provide archaeology students withprofessional skills with the added goal to learn about the men, women, and chil-dren who lived there. This project continues today and gives us a more in-depthview of the lives of those who returned after WWII to Evansville College.