Butler University

Illustrations depicting buildings on the school's Irvington campus in 1896 On January 15, 1850, the Indiana General Assembly adopted Ovid Butler 's proposed charter for a new Christian university in Indianapolis. After five years in development, the school opened on November 1, 1855, as North-Western Christian University at 13th Street and College Avenue on Indianapolis's near northside at the eastern edge of the present-day Old Northside Historic District . Attorney and university founder Ovid Butler provided the property. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] The university was founded by members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) , although it was never controlled by that church. The university's charter called for "a non-sectarian institution free from the taint of slavery, offering instruction in every branch of liberal and professional education". [ 4 ] The university was the second in Indiana and the third in the United States to admit both men and women. [ 4 ] The university established the first professorship in English literature and the first Department of English in the state of Indiana. In 1869, Ovid Butler endowed the Demia Butler Chair of English Literature in honor of his daughter, who was the first woman to graduate from the Classical course at the university and had died in 1867. The chair was the first endowed position at an American university designated for a female professor. [ 4 ] [ 7 ] Catharine Merrill , was the first to occupy the chair in 1869. Merrill was just the second female university professor in the country. [ 8 ] Bona Thompson Memorial Library , the only remaining building from Butler's Irvington campus The university moved to a new 25-acre (10 ha) campus in the community of Irvington on the east side of Indianapolis in 1875, and changed its name to Butler University in 1877. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] The university was renamed for Ovid Butler "in recognition of Ovid Butler's inspirational vision, determined leadership, and financial support".

The campus consisted of several buildings, including an observatory, most of which were demolished in 1939. The Bona Thompson Library at the intersection of Downey and University avenues, designed by architects Henry H. Dupont and Jesse T. Johnson, is the only remaining building, although several buildings that housed faculty remain, including the Benton House . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] In 1896, Butler joined with two private professional schools, the Medical College of Indiana and the Indiana Law School, to form the University of Indianapolis (U of I), an institution unrelated to the modern university of that name . [ 11 ] The Indiana Dental College later joined in 1904. Renamed as Butler College, the school constituted the undergraduate and liberal arts organ of the new university. [ 12 ] Butler left U of I in 1906 after the Medical College of Indiana joined with Purdue University 's medical school in 1905 (itself later merging with the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1908). In 1930, Butler merged with the Teachers College of Indianapolis , founded by Eliza Cooper Blaker , creating the university's second college. The third college, the College of Business Administration, was established in 1937, and the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences was established in 1945, following a merger that absorbed the Indianapolis College of Pharmacy. The Jordan College of Fine Arts, the university's fifth college, was established in 1951, following a merger with the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music. The university's department of religion became a separate Christian Church seminary and "college of applied Christianity" in 1924; it was variously called the School of Religion and the College of Religion. [ 13 ] The school became independent in 1958 and is currently known as the Christian Theological Seminary . [ 5 ]

Aerial of Butler University campus (2016) Arthur Jordan Memorial Hall , completed in 1928, is the oldest structure on campus. Minoru Yamasaki 's Irwin Library in snow Enrollment at Butler increased following the end of World War I , prompting the administration to examine the need for a larger campus. The new and current campus, designed in part by architect George Sheridan, was formed on the site of Fairview Park, a former amusement park on the city's northwest side. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Classes began on the campus in 1928. [ 2 ] In 1928, the first building completed on the Fairview campus was Arthur Jordan Memorial Hall , designed by Robert Frost Daggett and Thomas Hibben. The structure's Collegiate Gothic style of architecture, also used in the original William Tinsley -designed 13th Street and College Avenue building, set the tone for subsequent buildings erected on the campus over the next three decades. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The same year, the Butler Fieldhouse (later renamed Hinkle Fieldhouse ) was completed after having been designed by architect Fermor Spencer Cannon. The building remained the largest indoor sports facility in the state until the mid-1960s. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] In 1942, the Religion Building and Sweeney Chapel were both completed. These structures, designed by Burns and James, were remodeled and combined into Robertson Hall in 1966. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Following World War II , construction began on the student center, Atherton Union (designed by McGuire and Shook). McGuire and Shook also designed the dormitories called Ross Hall and Schwitzer Hall. Art Lindbergh, with help from Daggett, designed the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium , which was dedicated in 1955. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] In 1963, Irwin Library , designed by acclaimed architect Minoru Yamasaki , opened. Also in the early 1960s, Lilly Hall and Clowes Memorial Hall were constructed following the move of the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music to the campus.

Clowes Hall, which opened in 1963, was co-designed by Indianapolis architect Evans Woollen III and John M. Johansen (of New Canaan, Connecticut ). Ten years following the construction of Clowes Hall and Irwin Library, the science complex of Gallahue Hall and the Holcomb Research Institute (now Holcomb Building) were built, completing the U-shaped complex of academic buildings. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 14 ] In 1990, the Residential College, designed by James and Associates, was completed, becoming the university's last major construction project of the 20th century. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] In 2001, the Fairbanks Center for Communication and Technology was opened. [ citation needed ] In early 2004, the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall, seating 140, was added onto Robertson Hall. [ 15 ] On May 8, 2008, Butler broke ground on a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m 2 ) , four-story addition to the Pharmacy and Health Sciences Building. [ 16 ] In 2013, the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts opened. [ citation needed ]