Eugene C. Sanderson (March 24, 1859 – February 16, 1940) was an American

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

minister and educator who founded Eugene Divinity School (EDS) in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

in 1895. Today this school is known as

Bushnell University Bushnell University is a Private university, private Christian university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is historically affiliated with the Christian churches and churches of Christ. History The school was founded as a divinity sc ...

. He served as its first president from 1895 to 1930. He also founded four other Christian colleges and one hospital.

Early life

Sanderson was born on March 24, 1859, in

Fayette County, Ohio Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,951. Its county seat and largest city is Washington Court House. The county was named for the Marquis de Lafayette, a Frenchman who ...

. Sanderson moved to

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

in 1886 and pastored Christian Churches in

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

, Colfax,

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and was ...

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, a seasi ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, and Olympia. In 1894 he was pastor at First Christian Church in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

Eugene Divinity School

Dr. Sanderson saw a need to train ministers for the Christian Church in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. To do so, he returned to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and completed his doctorate. In early 1895, he took part in a meeting in Eugene, Oregon to discuss establishing a school to train ministers. He strongly believed that locating ministerial schools near state institutions of higher education provided the best of both worlds. Thus, he deliberately located EDS next to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

(UO) near East 11th Avenue and Alder Street to take advantage of the UO liberal arts program while EDS focused primarily on the ministerial courses including Bible, theology, music, and oratory. Eugene Divinity School became Eugene Bible University (EBU) in 1908.Goodrich, Martha A. ''History of Northwest Christian College''. Eugene, OR: unpublished MA thesis, University of Oregon, 1949. In 1908 the Administration Building was constructed. It is three stories tall and was constructed of volcanic stone from southern Oregon. Other buildings were constructed during his tenure, including the Music Building.

Other institutions

During the 1920s Eugene Bible University, under Sanderson's leadership, expanded to include a number of other enterprises by incorporating the International Bible Mission (IBM). These two institutions were closely linked, especially financially. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, both EBU and IBM found themselves overextended and financially in default. Operations were scaled back to just the Eugene campus of EBU. He founded Pacific Christian Hospital, which is now

PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District is a former hospital in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Originally called Sacred Heart Medical Center, the newer name reflected its location near the University of Oregon and Northwest ...

, across Alder Street from EBU. There was a need for a good medical facility in Eugene at this time. Local citizens looked to Sanderson, because of his reputation, to develop such a facility. Construction began in February 1923. It opened on March 17, 1924. The six-story building cost about $225,000. It included a School for Nurses where a three-year program led to a degree as a

Registered Nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

. In 1936 it was sold to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Newark for $50,000 and renamed Sacred Heart General Hospital. He served as the second president of Minneapolis Bible College (now Crossroads College) in Rochester,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

from 1924 to 1932. It had been founded by David E. Olsen, a 1908 graduate of EDS, in 1913. He founded several schools across the United States that still exist including Christian Workers University (now

Manhattan Christian College Manhattan Christian College (MCC) is a private Christian college in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was founded in 1927 as Christian Workers University. The institution's name was changed to Manhattan Bible College in 1930 and Manhattan Ch ...

) in 1927 in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

; and Evangel Bible University (now

William Jessup University Jessup University (officially William Jessup University) is a private Christian university in Rocklin, California, United States, with additional sites in San Jose, California and Portland, Oregon. The university had 1,743 (over 1650 full-time e ...

Rocklin, California Rocklin is a city in Placer County, California, United States, about from Sacramento, and about northeast of Roseville in the Sacramento metropolitan area. Besides Roseville, it shares borders with Granite Bay, Loomis and Lincoln. As of th ...

) in 1934 in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. This latter institution did not do well and his health was failing, so Sanderson asked one of his former students, William Jessup, a 1930 graduate of EBU, to take over. It was renamed San Jose Bible College in 1939. He founded several schools that no longer exist. The first was Seattle Bible College in 1919, later renamed Eugene Bible University Extension Hall. The next was Colorado Bible College in 1927 in

Fort Collins A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. And finally Missouri Christian College in 1928 in Camden Point,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. He started a Home and School for Boys in Eugene in 1926 and another in 1927 in

El Monte, California El Monte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of the city of Los Angeles. El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and is historically known as "The End of the San ...

. In addition, he also started a Girl's Junior College which operated from 1911 to 1929 in Eugene. Finally, he started a Home for the Aged in Eugene in 1927. All of these are no longer in existence. A number of his former students, many graduates of EDS and EBU, were involved with him in establishing these enterprises. In addition, many faculty from EBU helped with these various institutions.

Academic background

Sanderson earned

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degrees from Oskaloosa College in 1883. He then spent a year at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. Later he earned

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

and

Doctorate of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degrees from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

in 1893, followed by a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Bachelor of Sacred Theology (abbreviated STB) is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred by a number o ...

degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1894.

Publications

In 1912 Sanderson published a book titled ''Our English Bible''. In order to publicize the evangelical and educational work of EBU and IBM he published the ''Church and School'' paper, starting in 1909. It became the ''Christian Journal'' in 1915 and the ''World Evangel'' in 1925. It ceased publication in 1934.

Death

Sanderson died on February 16, 1940, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Both he and his wife Prudence are buried in Eugene Masonic Cemetery.

References

External links

*
Bushnell University History

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Eugene Claremont 1859 births 1940 deaths American Protestant ministers and clergy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergy Drake University alumni Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Oskaloosa College alumni People from Greenville, Ohio Bushnell University Religious leaders from Ohio University and college founders University of Chicago alumni Drake University Law School alumni