Telling the Hesston College Story
Hesston College's centennial celebration, "Living the Vision" will be held September 25-27, 2009. A centennial planning committee has planned a host of events and activities. See Mennonite Weekly Review's feature on Hesston's centennial history.
Now completed is a 100-year history, A School on the Prairie: A Centennial History of Hesston College, 1909-2009 by John E. Sharp, published by Cascadia Publishing House LLC. The book is out and will be featured on Friday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m., in the Bontrager Student Center dining room.
See the publisher's summary of the book, the forward by Jim Mininger, and endorsements by Elaine Moyer, Felipe Hinojosa, and John L. Ruth on Cascadia's web site.
The book, an accompanying DVD, a cookbook, and more can be ordered from the Hesston College Bookstore online, or purchased on campus.
Chapter titles:
1. Stakes on the Prairie
2. Pennsylvania Prologue
3. Vision for a School in the West (1903-1908)
4. Founding: "Every Beginning is Difficult" (1909)
5. Maintaining a School "in the Order of the Church" (1909-1914)
6. Patriotism Without National Boundaries (1914-1919)
7. "The Truth Shall Make you Free" (1919-1929)
8. Dust, Depression and Determination (1929-1939)
9. War, Serviced and Expansion (1939-1949)
10. Negotiating Cultural Transitions (1949-1959)
11. A Safely Progressive College (1959-1969)
12. Reinventing Education (1969-1979)
13. Educating More-With-Less (1979-1989)
14. Enhancing Excellence (1989-1999)
15. Start Here, Go Everywhere (1999-2009)
Here are snatches of history to whet your appetite:
- Alumni Interviews by Gary Oyer's Digital Media class and Dwight Roth's Introduction to Sociology class.
- Campus Scenes
- Celebration Schedule
- Centennial Parade of Homes
- Did you know?
- Faculty Photo Directory
- Founders Gallery
- Founding Families
- Vignettes from Hesston College history