Magazine Article Review: The Old College Try: Nebraska's Ghost Colleges

 The Old College Try: Nebraska's Ghost Colleges by John Irwin, Nebraska History Magazine, Lincoln, Nebraska, Spring 2023, pp 2-29.

It is amazing how many colleges have failed in Nebraska.  Admittedly most of them are religious schools, but still pretty amazing.  Here in Bellevue there is Bellevue College which was a Presbyterian institution.  It went through periods of low enrollment and financial difficulty over time.  At one point it called itself the University of Omaha to gain students from a wider area.  Several things contributed to its closure.  The church had difficulty funding the college.  The tornado of 1908 damaged the main building, tearing off the roof requiring repairs.  The final blow was WWI when many of the potential students were off to war and so enrollment dropped off considerably.  At first the school was used to house military people.  Fort Crook (Now Offutt) is close by.  Several other colleges closed as a result of the war, and the flu epidemic.  The great depression also took its toll.  

Martin Luther College in Sterling Nebraska was a Luthren College.  It had a emphasis in music.  It brags of composer Howard Hansen coming from the school.  It closed during WWI to reopen for a time in the 1920s.  Its main building became a residence for disabled children.  

In Wahoo, Nebraska is a more recent college, John F. Kennedy College.  This was a for profit college that survived ten years.  It is most noted for its female athletics and they sponsored softball teams that won the first three women's college world series.  It closed in 1975 due to decreased enrollment due to the Viet Nam War.  Both Ted and Bobby Kennedy visited the college.  

A total of 45 colleges have died in Nebraska over the years.  Some as recently as the 2020s.  This article lists all of the colleges with a brief blurb about what happened to each.  

How Elkhart got its Name

 Am informational  bulletin at Island Park explains how Elkhart Indiana got its name.  It was called An-na-wa-wah by the Potawatomi.  This means Elk's heart.  It seems the Native American people thought the shape of the island resembled and elk's heart.  My vote is they should have stuck with the Native American name.  

The island looks long for a heart, but I have never scene an elk's heart.

Black/ Native American Biography: Crispus Attucks

 Crispus Attacks was from African and Wampanoag ancestry.  He is most remembered as the first American to die in the American Revolution.  He was killed at the Boston Massacre when someone yelled "Fire" and the British troops opened fire.  Five people were killed that day.  It is not sure if Attacks was a freeman or an escaped slave.  Attacks worked on the docks as a dock worker and also as a seaman.  He appears to have been active in the protests that day.  Different stories have him hitting a British soldier with a stick, or just holding a stick.  At any rate two balls ricocheted and struck him in the chest killing him.  

His name has been used after his death to promote freedom for African Americans, as part of the abolitionist movement and also as part of the Civil Rights Movement.  

artistic representation of Crispus Attucks

Havilah Beardsley: Founder of Elkhart City

 Off of Beardsley, a couple blocks west of Main Street is a memorial to Havilah Beardsley.  Says he purchased the land from the Native Americans, laid out the city and established the first flour mill, wood mill and card mill.  He was the first doctor as well.  

Patricia and Martin De Leon

Patricia and Martin De Leon were Tejanos during the time of the war between Texas and Santa Ana of Mexico.  They did not support the Mexican government but were for a free Texas.  They established a community with about 50 families called De Leon's Colony.  It was about the only Tejano established community in the area as most settlers in this area were from America.  They had ten childen, four boys and six girls.  They had a large property and helped to fund the Texans during the war. Martin died in 1833 of cholera.  His wife continued to manage the ranch.  It was also she who provided financial support and logistical support to the Texans and Tejanos who fought the Mexican army.  Several of her sons were also active in supplying Stephen Austin.  

Martin de Leon 

Kingman Arizona, Bonelli House Tour

The Bonelli House tour is great.  It tells briefly the story of the Bonelli family, but more importantly has some great items from the past, 1915 to about 1970.  The Bonelli House is the home of George and Effie Tarr Bonelli.  George was gthe son of Mormon pioneers and Effie the daughter of the Train Station master.  They were married in the South Methodist church across from their home in 1895.  They owned a large cattle ranch operation.  They were also into other local businesses such as turquoise jewelry.  Their original home had electricity.  It was made of wood and caught fire, perhaps from a short.  They rebuilt within a year this home just to the east of the original.  It had Tufa stone and fire resistant plaster.  Also had an escape from every room.  The copula was a natural cooling system to let the heat out through the roof.  

History of Elkhart County: Elkhart County Historical Museum

In addition to providing a good history of the Native Americans in the area, Miami and Potawatomi, the museum also gives a good history of the people coming to Elkhart County.  Significant points in Elkhart history includes the develop of mills,the development of medical devices, the manufacturing of musical instruments, becoming a train hub, and the dominance of the St. Joseph River.