Kansas City or Bust: The Methodist Plan to Relocate Baker University, 1927-1939.

• Author: DeGreeff, Zachary

In early 1931, the quiet campus of Baker University in the small community of Baldwin City, Kansas was visited by a series of gentlemen tasked with assessing the school. The three men assigned to evaluate Baker represented the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the highest Methodist association in the nation. The organization, known as the Commission on Survey, published a document in July of that year entitled Report of a Survey of Baker University (1) The report argued that Baker University should reconsider its chosen location in Baldwin City and move to a more advantageous location--Kansas City. (2) The Commission on Survey asked Baker University to consider moving for several reasons including the merger between Baker University and Missouri Wesleyan College, the threat of competition by surrounding schools, the Methodist concept of the Social Creed, and the hazardous economic effects of the Great Depression.

The Commission on Survey claimed their repetitive argument of relocation as a panacea for Baker University's challenges--the implications of the merger, outside competition, serving the Church, and maintaining economic stability--was aimed purely toward Baker University's preservation. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the push to change the location was primarily driven by the interest of the Commission on Survey in furthering the influence of the Church. This incident had implications for the relationship between the Methodist Episcopal Church and its member institutions as it provided an example of a small school whose loyalty to its denomination, its identity, and its community were tested by the interests of the broader Church authorities.

No previous scholarly writing exists concerning the Commission on Survey or their attempt to relocate Baker University. (3) According to Frederick Norwood, writing for the American Society of Church History, "the traditional unconcern for historical roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church still prevails sufficiently to help account for a less extensive program of historical investigation than that...of Great Britain." (4) Some notable exceptions to this trend are Fire on the Prairie: Methodism in the History of Kansas by Don W. Holter and Methodism and Society Volume 2: Methodism and Society in the Twentieth Century by Walter G. Muelder. Both works detail the history of American Methodism during the early twentieth century and its investment in higher education; Fire on the Prairie especially emphasizes its role in Kansas and Baker University history. (5)

The motivations and outcomes of the suggestion to transfer Baker University were significantly impacted by the historical context. For this reason, context related to the founding of Baldwin City, Baker University, and the Commission on Survey are provided below.

The story of Baker University's establishment in the 1850s reflects the fact that the history of Baker, Baldwin City, and Kansas Methodism are deeply intertwined. Motivated by the ongoing debate over slavery in Kansas, a handful of settlers founded the town of Palmyra, Kansas just north of where Baldwin City is today in 1854. (6) The location of the town along the Santa Fe Trail brought income and people, including Methodists. On July 9, 1854, a small cabin north of Palmyra hosted the first Methodist sermon delivered to settlers in Kansas territory. Three years later, this same cabin witnessed a group of ministers deciding to establish a university named after the first bishop of the Kansas-Nebraska Methodist Conference, Osmon C. Baker. (7) The Palmyra Town Association offered the ministers 800 acres of land in exchange for the establishment of the university in Palmyra--an offer they eagerly accepted.

To fund their project, the team in charge of creating Baker University sold some of the lots south of Palmyra and created a new town. (8) This town was to be named after whoever made the largest contribution. (9) One of the ministers involved in the project, Reverend Nathan Taylor decided to name the new town 'Baldwin City' with the hope that this would encourage John Baldwin, founder of Baldwin-Wallace University, to donate to the cause. (10) In late 1857, when a curious John Baldwin wrote to Reverend Levin B. Dennis in Kansas and asked why Baldwin City would fare better than other nascent communities, he was met with the following message: "1. A most beautiful situation 2. One of the most healthy 3. In midst of most populous portions of the Territory 4. Central location 5. Proximity to Missouri 6. We have already secured eight hundred acres of land, as yet incurred no debt." By early 1858, John Baldwin was making arrangements to move from his home in Berea, Ohio to establish a mill in Baldwin City. According to historian Virginia Gatch Markham, "in [John Baldwin's] mind he planned how he could again promote his dream of making available to youth a college education in a religious environment." (11) From the beginning, Baldwin City was a town designed by Methodists to host Baker University.

Palmyra leaders urged citizens to buy the affordable Baldwin City land plots to support the growth of the university, diminishing itself in the process. The two communities eventually merged in the early 1860s. As a result, Baldwin City became the central community in the area with Baker University at its core. (12) When Baker University was established, its location in Baldwin City appeared exceedingly appropriate for the purposes of the school and the Methodist Episcopal Church. A publication from the Office of Baker University in 1863 described its location in the kindest terms:

Our town is improving rapidly, with a population remarkable for its high moral character. We have no liquor shops or gaming saloons, they being prohibited in our deeds of conveyance of real estate; and already we have one of the pleasantest villages in Kansas. The location is healthy, and the scenery pleasant, having variety of prairie and timber, so blended as to make the surroundings beautiful and picturesque. Our facilities for travel are as good as any interior town in the State. (13) Besides the perceived moral character, beauty, and accessibility of the region, there was also hope among the school's founders that the town would one day become a major urban center along the Santa Fe Trail. (14) All of these elements made Baldwin City a promising location for Baker University and its future seemed secure.

Baker University was fundamentally created to be an educational institution under the banner of Methodism. While the small school possessed strong ties with the Methodist Episcopal Church and shared its objective of delivering Christian ideals, it also had an additional commitment to academics. As a College of Liberal Arts, Baker University offered students a variety of subjects, including departments of Foreign Language, Social Science, Natural Science, and professional training in fields such as Business Administration, Education, and Music. (15) By the time the survey recommended relocation, Baker University had operated in Baldwin City for seventy-three years.

Before detailing the arguments in favor of a location change for Baker, a brief history of the Commission on Survey is warranted. This summary outlines the origins and scope of the Commission on Survey. According to the foreword in the Report of a Survey of Baker University, the impetus to create what would become the Commission on Survey began with a meeting of the Educational Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church in January of 1927. This organization was composed of volunteer members from the staff of Methodist colleges. At the meeting, the attendees read a paper that called for "scientific study of the member institutions" of the Church. (16) On May 17, 1928, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church endorsed the idea of creating and administering a survey by ordering the formation of one or more commissions to achieve this end. According to the General Conference, the information collected by the survey would be used in order to complete two vital elements of church-school relations:

First: To furnish the bases to determine the nature and quality of the service rendered the cause of Christian Education by our Educational Institutions, to appraise their work and suggest improvements in it, to co-operate in formulating a constructive, statesmanlike policy for them, to inform the Church so that it may be inspired to increased confidence and more generous support. Second: The findings of the commission are to be taken into consideration by the Board of Education in making their annual appropriations, and utilized by the institutions as they solicit support. (17) These goals explicitly demonstrate the level of authority delegated to the Commission on Survey; the Church empowered its new commission to decide which educational institutions were most worthy of financial support from the Methodist Episcopal Church based on their performance. In the upcoming Depression years, the economic leverage the Commission on Survey possessed would be an influential presence for any struggling institution and make the schools more persuadable to the given recommendations.

Following the initial authorization of the survey by the General Conference, the Board of Education appointed the Commission on Survey on February 1, 1929. The members of the Commission on Survey met for the first time on March 27, 1929 to elect officers from amongst themselves. The Commission determined that Dr. Floyd Wesley Reeves would act as Director of the survey. (18) The Commission on Survey's base of operations became Chicago and the University of Chicago Press printed all of their publications thanks to Dr. Reeves' connection to the school. (19) Loose outlines were drafted for the general objectives of the survey, which included the line: "The study of each institution should include specifically...