Berea College’s spiritual motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth,” has shaped the institution’s unique culture and programs since its founding in 1855. Founder John G. Fee, an ardent abolitionist, held fast to the radical vision of a college and a community committed to interracial education, to the Appalachian region, and to the equality of women and men hailing from all “nations and climes.” A significant distinction in the Berea mission is that rather than following the typical tuition-based model, the college developed a tuition-free work program so that its students could take advantage of a private liberal arts education otherwise unaffordable to them. Using primary sources, recent scholarship, and powerful photographs, Shannon H. Wilson charts the fascinating history and development of one of Kentucky’s most distinguished institutions of higher learning.

Winner of the New Scholar’s Book Award from the American Educational Research Association The abolitionist movement not only helped bring an end to slavery in the United States but also inspired the large-scale admission of African Americans to the country’s colleges and universities. Oberlin College changed the face of American higher education in 1835 when it began enrolling students irrespective of race and sex. Camaraderie among races flourished at the Ohio institution and at two other leading abolitionist colleges, Berea in Kentucky and New York Central, where Black and white students allied in the fight for emancipation and civil rights. After Reconstruction, however, color lines emerged on even the most progressive campuses. For new generations of white students and faculty, ideas of fairness toward African Americans rarely extended beyond tolerating their presence in the classroom, and overt acts of racial discrimination grew increasingly common by the 1880s. John Frederick Bell’s Degrees of Equality analyzes the trajectory of interracial reform at Oberlin, New York Central, and Berea, noting its implications for the progress of racial justice in both the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. Drawing on student and alumni writings, institutional records, and promotional materials, Bell interrogates how abolitionists and their successors put their principles into practice. The ultimate failure of these social experiments illustrates a tragic irony of abolitionism, as the achievement of African American freedom and citizenship led whites to divest from the project of racial pluralism.

Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Richmond, Kentucky, was originally established as a normal school in 1906 in the wake of a landmark education law passed by the Kentucky General Assembly. One hundred years later, the school has evolved into a celebrated multipurpose regional university that is national in scope. The school was built on a campus that had housed Central University, a southern Presbyterian institution. In its early years, EKU grew slowly, buffeted by cyclical economic problems and the interruptions of two world wars. During that time, however, strong leadership from early presidents Ruric Nevel Roark, John Grant Crabbe, and Herman L. Donovan laid the groundwork for later expansions. President Robert. R. Martin oversaw the rapid growth of the institution in the 1960s. He managed an increase in enrollment and he had additional facilities built to house and educate the growing student population. A savvy administrator, he was at the forefront of vocational education and initiated programs in nursing and allied heath and in law enforcement education. His successor, J.C. Powell, built on Martin's work and saw EKU mature as a regional university. He reorganized its colleges to better balance the needs of general and technical education students and kept educational programs going despite decreases in state funding. In addition, Powell's years were a magical time for EKU's sports programs, as the Colonels captured national football championships in 1979 and 1982 and finished second in 1980 and 1981. Today, EKU continues to offer students a quality education and strives to meet the diverse needs of its student body. Three Eastern campuses, as well as distance learning programs through the Kentucky Telelinking Network, offer more options to students than ever before as EKU prepares them for the challenges of a new century. In A History of Eastern Kentucky University, William E. Ellis recounts the university's colorful history, from political quandaries surrounding presidential administrations and financial difficulties during the Great Depression to its maturing as a leading regional university. Interviews with alumni, faculty, staff, and political figures provide a personal side to the history of the school. Reflecting on the social, economic, and cultural changes in the region during the last century, Ellis's examination of the growth and development of EKU is an essential resource for alumni and for those interested in the progression of public higher education in Kentucky and the region.