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This collection contains correspondence and photographs documenting the creation of Lawrence University. The physical formats of these items are available in the University Archives, located on Level B of the library.
The collection was created in honor of the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Appleton, Wisconsin, as a city on May 2, 1857. With the creation of Lawrence University in 1849, the area around the college grew into the community of Appleton. The city of Appleton is named in honor of the wife of Amos Lawrence, Sarah Appleton Lawrence.
To learn more about the history of Appleton, visit the Appleton Public Library's Local History website
http://www.apl.org/history/history.html
A Brief History of Lawrence University
Key People Involved in the Founding of Lawrence
Amos A. Lawrence
Lawrence, a wealthy Boston merchant, envisioned a liberal arts college in frontier Wisconsin that would provide education to both males and females. His work on fulfilling this goal began in 1846 when he provided $10, 0000 to build the school on the condition that the Methodist church provide another $10, 000. The remaining funds were raised and after the construction of the Academy building, classes began on November 12, 1849.
Lawrence did not visit the college until 1857 and in a letter to his wife, Sarah Appleton Lawrence, approves of the college and the community of Appleton that formed around it.
Henry R. Colman
Colman was a Methodist minister from Fond du Lac and one of the first settlers of the area that would become known as Appleton. He was commissioned by Amos Lawrence to establish a frontier school and raise funds to build the school. He also assisted in writing the charter of the university and was one of the first trustees of the university.
William Harkness Sampson
Sampson was a Methodist minister and one of the first settlers of the area that would become known as Appleton. He was commissioned by Amos Lawrence to establish a frontier school and raise funds to build the school. He also assisted in writing the charter of the university and was the principal of the Lawrence Institute from 1849-1953.
The First Buildings of the Lawrence Campus
Lawrence Academy
The Academy building, also known as the Lawrence Institute, was built in 1849. It was the first building of the Lawrence campus and was located where the Appleton YMCA is located today, on the corner of Durkee and Lawrence Streets. The building was the entire college –it served as the dormitory, recitation hall, and chapel. The Academy was destroyed by fire on January 6, 1857.
Main Hall
Main Hall was the first building constructed on Lawrence University’s current campus. The cornerstone for the hall was laid June 28, 1853, the day after the inauguration of the college’s first president, Edward Cooke. The building’s purpose was to serve as the main college building. Main Hall was initially used for classrooms, administrative and faulty offices, a chapel, men’s dormitory, and the college library. When the Academy was destroyed by a fire in 1857, Main Hall became the sole campus building until 1889 when Ormsby Hall, a women’s dormitory, was built. The college library was located in Main Hall until 1906 when the Carnegie Library was built.
The hall was used as a meeting place for Appleton citizens during the Civil War, and the first war speech in Appleton took place in the chapel located in the third and fourth floors of the building. The speech resulted in the entire class of 1864 enlisting in the war. A memorial service for Abraham Lincoln was held in 1865 in the chapel. During the Spanish-America War, military trained on the grounds outside the hall. Main Hall also became the first college building in the nation to have electric lighting.
