The 1930 Chapel Fire
Georgetown College at 1892
"If Georgetown College is to keep abreast of the times and compete
successfully with her sister institutions located in Central Kentucky, more
commodious and imposing buildings with better surroundings are imperative."
Record Journal of Trustees of Kentucky Baptist Education Society, Georgetown
College, 1867-1912
In 1892, Georgetown College was experiencing growing pains. Since assuming the presidency in 1880, Richard M. Dudley had presided over a growing endowment, an improving faculty, and an increasing number of students. Only two students graduated during his third commencement ceremonies. By the time of his death in 1893, there were nineteen.
Dudley also recruited excellent faculty members from prestigious graduate schools: Arthur Yager (history and political science, PhD, Johns Hopkins University), J.F. Eastwood (Natural Science, PhD, University of Michigan), and J.M. Burnham (Latin and French, PhD, Yale University). He campaigned to raise $250,000 to endow chairs in mathematics, natural sciences, history, and political science. He raised enough to endow four of six faculty positions. Also in 1892, Georgetown College was preparing to close the Georgetown Female Seminary and integrate women into the college with men.
The facilities were woefully inadequate for meeting the needs of a growing college. The only four structures on campus were: Recitation Hall (later Giddings Hall) (above, center), which housed classrooms, the president's office, and chapel; Pawling Hall (above, left & inset), which was the residence for male students; a small gymnasium, which was available for student use; and the academy building (later Highbaugh Hall) (above, right), where the literary societies had their meeting rooms and libraries, and where students were taught in preparation for entering college.
In April, 1892, Georgetown College's trustees appointed a committee to investigate the college and make recommendations at its June meeting.
Georgetown College Campus 1892
Special Collections & Archives at Georgetown College
About the Program
The Special Collections and Archives program at Georgetown College promotes the understanding of the college’s rich heritage by collecting and preserving material that records all facets of its institutional life. The archives program collects a variety of information in many forms to document the changing character of Georgetown College over time. The documents, visual images, artifacts, oral histories, and rare books contained in Special Collections and Archives are used to support the college's administrative and development operations and to enhance its academic endeavors.
On a selective basis, the archives program seeks written, printed, electronic and visual material, officially and non-officially produced, from all quarters of the college community. It collects material from administrative departments, faculty, students, and alumni, and from individuals who have been intimately involved with the college. On a very limited scale, the Special Collections and Archives program accepts artifacts, such as clothing, banners, balls, and instructional equipment, which gives a third dimension to the life of the college.