Canterbury College was a private institution located in

Danville, Indiana Danville is a town in and the county seat of Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 10,559 at the 2020 census. History Danville was founded in 1824, and its post office one year later. Danville was incorporated as a town in ...

, United States from 1878 to 1951. The school was known as Central Normal College prior to 1946.

History

The college was founded in 1876 as part of the larger statewide university system in Indiana. The school was located in Ladoga, Indiana, but was moved to

in 1878 after purchasing the former Danville Academy buildings. Normal Hall is the only remaining building associated with the Central Indiana Normal School at Ladoga. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1996. The school taught traditional college courses, but primarily focused on training teachers. Over 75,000 teachers were trained while the school was in operation. In 1942 the school buildings were taken over by the Northern Diocese of the Episcopal Church and the college was renamed Canterbury College, but it continued as a normal school until closing in 1951 due to bankruptcy. Boosters and alumni spared no effort to save Canterbury, but to no avail. "At the height of the last-minute campaign to save the college, its president dressed in red flannels and led a parade in which United States Senator William E. Jenner rode an elephant, Governor Henry Schricker drove a span of mules, and scantily clad coeds peddled doughnuts at $1 each." When the college declared bankruptcy, it had debts approaching $90,000 (just over $1 million in 2023 dollars). After the college closed, the old Administration Building and the Chapel were torn down, but Hargrave Hall and the C.C. Bostick Gymnasium were used as the

Danville Community High School Danville Community High School (DCHS) is a public high school located in Danville, Indiana, Danville, Indiana. DCHS enrolls students from grades nine through twelve and is operated by the Danville Community School Corporation. Danville is part of ...

and then the Danville Community Middle School until 2009. The building was used for Ivy Tech classes in conjunction with Danville Community High School and is referred to as Central Normal Campus. In addition to housing educational facilities, it also houses the Danville Police Department as well Danville Athletic Club.

Notable alumni

The school's alumni include: * Samuel Ralston, a United States Senator and the 28th Indiana

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, *U.S. Representative William Larrabee *U.S. Representative

William La Follette William Leroy La Follette (November 30, 1860 – December 20, 1934) was a four-term member of the United States House of Representatives representing Washington (state), Washington. He represented the Washington's 3rd congressional district, 3rd ...

*MLB pitcher

Vic Aldridge Victor Aldridge (October 25, 1893 – April 17, 1973), nicknamed "the Hoosier Schoolmaster", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants, and was known to b ...

, * John Cravens, long-time university administrator * David Myers, Justice of the

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...

* Jim Springer, former professional basketball player * George Tremain, Justice of the

Lewis Terman Lewis Madison Terman (January 15, 1877 – December 21, 1956) was an American psychologist, academic, and proponent of eugenics. He was noted as a pioneer in educational psychology in the early 20th century at the Stanford School of Education. T ...

, human development psychologist. * William H. Stead, Illinois Attorney General, also went to the school. *Frank W. Griese, Mayor of

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

(1930–1935) * John W. Spencer, Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme CourtLeander John Monks, ''Courts and Lawyers of Indiana, Volume 3'' (1916), p. 1365. * Elmer Louis Hoehn, Member of the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

References

External links

*
Hendricks County Heritage Digital Collection
Defunct private universities and colleges in Indiana Education in Hendricks County, Indiana Universities and colleges established in 1876 Educational institutions disestablished in 1951 1876 establishments in Indiana 1951 disestablishments in Indiana {{Indiana-university-stub