1851

From the Archives…

Does 1851 sound familiar to you?  Perhaps you noticed it on the Coe seal or on the large stone sign at the corner of campus?  In 1851 Williston Jones, Coe College’s founder, opened his home to Cedar Rapids youth with the intention of preparing them for the ministry.  Two years later, during a trip to New York, Jones took to the pulpit to raise funds to send his students to seminary, and found a man with another idea.  Daniel Coe was willing to give Jones 1500 dollars if he started a school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Are you curious about what happened next?  Coe has several historical accounts telling the story of Coe’s beginnings including an account on Coe’s website, the Writing Center’s  website on the first 100 years of Coe College, a digital exhibit on Coe’s founders  and of course the Coe College Founders Papers in the archives.

~Sara