Notes

The Names of IU

On July 13, 1787, the United States Congress passed the Ordinance for the Government of the Northwest Territory, the frontier lands newly evacuated by the British after the American Revolution (including future Indiana). Its third article declared, “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.” President John Adams signed into law the congressional act that specifically created Indiana Territory, effective July 4, 1800. In 1816, President James Madison signed a law welcoming Indiana as the nineteenth State, effective December 11, 1816, and part of that same law mandated “one entire township, which shall be designated by the President of the United States...shall be reserved for the use of a Seminary of learning.” Madison selected a township in southern Indiana, to which settlers moved and created Monroe County in 1818 (named in honor of current President James Monroe). The county seat Bloomington was established the same year.

A location was selected for the new seminary, on what is now Seminary Square, and on January 20, 1820, the Indiana State Legislature passed the law creating Indiana State Seminary to be located there. The land was purchased, the first buildings built, and on April 4, 1825, the seminary doors were opened for the first time, as ten young men became its first students. On January 24, 1828, the state legislature renamed it Indiana College, and leadership was sought. Andrew Reddick Wylie was selected as its first President in the fall of 1829 and moved to Bloomington. Indiana’s first degrees were awarded in 1830, as the first four graduates received their diplomas, three of whom had been in continuous attendance since the first day. All were bachelor degrees. On February 15, 1838, the legislature again renamed it Indiana University, and it has remained such ever since.

As a result, “Indiana State Seminary,” “Indiana College,” and “Indiana University” are used throughout the first 200 biographies.

In Course Masters

The Master’s Degree “in course,” which Indiana University chose to award three years after the bachelors degree, was a sign of distinction and considered a valid credential for employment. Wikipedia, Wylie (Theophilus Wylie - Presbyterian minister, college professor, and cousin of IU’s first president, Andrew Wylie), contemporary newspaper articles, and other sources confirm these as legitimate. IU awarded them in a separate ceremony as part of Commencement. Because they are in a sense “honorary,” they are not included in the degree recipient listings.