Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 35, number 4, summer, 1952

              racine college was established by a group of episcopalian clergymen in 1852 the rev roswell park became its first president followed by the rev james dekoven a dynamic educator and administrator when his death oc curred in 1879 the institution seemed to lose much of its vitality its disin tegration became evident during the 1929 depression and it ceased function ing as a school in 1933 in its place there appeared in 1935 the episcopalian center known as dekoven foundation for church work with the sisters of st mary in control president james dekoven a hundred years of racine college and dekoven foundation by the reu sydney h croft october of this year will mark the centennial celebration of an old and venerated institution in wisconsin which now bears the name of a priest in the episcopal church who dis tinguished himself as a scholar and orator in the late 1880's the name of racine college was changed to dekoven foundation when the community of st mary took it over in 1935 and established a church center wisconsin was still in the settler stage and the fringe of comfortable civilization was only a few miles west of lake michigan when there appeared an urgent need for schools of higher learning in the territory in those days as in the colonial times the clergy were considered the epitome of edu cated people several priests of the epis copal church including the rev dr joseph nichols of st luke's in racine the rev dr azel cole of nashotah seminary the vener able bishop kemper and two laymen gen eral philo white and marshall strong got together and worked out plans for the es tablishment of a college fronting on lake michigan a few other laymen joined the group as the plans progressed milwaukee and racine staged a contest to determine which city could first raise the financial backing of at least 6,000 and six acres of land racine won with a total subscription of more than 10,000 and a ten-acre site on the south end of town given by charles and truman wright the college named after the city was really the brain child of drs cole and ni chols who felt that the interests of religion and political strengthening of the new west are so intimately interwoven with the morals of our settlers that secular education ought to be combined with christian teaching and that the church which has so actively par ticipated in the opening of this frontier ter ritory has an imperative duty to bring about that combination."1 the board of trustees was incorporated by a state charter march 3 1852 and im mediately planned the opening of racine college for november 15 of that year with the rev roswell park of racine as its first president although its cornerstone had been 1letter of dr cole to bishop kemper is quoted in kemper's journal 250