From collection Person List
Jonathan Blanchard was a nationally recognized abolitionist before he became involved with Wheaton College. After studying at Middlebury College, he enrolled at Lane Seminary, where he became friends with Lane President Lyman Beecher, father to reformists Henry Ward Beecher, George Beecher, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Following his time at Lane, Blanchard became an ordained minister at the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. While there, he helped establish the abolitionist newspaper The Philanthropist, and he represented Ohio at the 1843 World Anti-Slavery Convention, where he was appointed the organization’s American vice president.
In 1860, after serving as president of Knox College in Illinois for 13 years, he accepted the presidency of the Illinois Institute. As president, Blanchard helped secure a donation of 50 acres of land from Warren Wheaton in exchange for renaming the school in his honor as Wheaton College and Wheaton College Academy.
Blanchard secured additional financing for the school, pledged by friends and supporters, providing the faculty with insurance that their positions were secure. Even as enrollment dropped with the outbreak of the Civil War, Wheaton remained on solid financial ground due to Blanchard’s leadership.
Blanchard sought to model the school after Oberlin College, with a classic curriculum and radical social ideas. The school was, he believed, a “means of training social activists.” He not only allowed African-American students to attend Wheaton, but he housed them in his home.
Besides being an abolitionist, Blanchard was strongly opposed to secret societies and prohibited them at Wheaton. After the Civil War, he turned his attention to fighting secret societies, including fraternities and organizations like the Freemasons.
Ill health forced Jonathan Blanchard to resign from Wheaton College in 1882, but his legacy continued. He helped establish the College as a reputable, stable organization with a singular mission. For this, the main building on the Wheaton College campus, Blanchard Hall, is named in his honor.
Blanchard’s lasting legacy has also been seen in his successors, including his son Charles Blanchard, who followed him as president. Jonathan Blanchard’s grandson, Herman Fischer Jr., served on the Wheaton College board; his great-grandson, John Blanchard, was the Academy’s director from 1962–1965; and his great-great grandson, Harold “Mac” Airhart, was a longtime member of the Academy’s board.
In 1860, after serving as president of Knox College in Illinois for 13 years, he accepted the presidency of the Illinois Institute. As president, Blanchard helped secure a donation of 50 acres of land from Warren Wheaton in exchange for renaming the school in his honor as Wheaton College and Wheaton College Academy.
Blanchard secured additional financing for the school, pledged by friends and supporters, providing the faculty with insurance that their positions were secure. Even as enrollment dropped with the outbreak of the Civil War, Wheaton remained on solid financial ground due to Blanchard’s leadership.
Blanchard sought to model the school after Oberlin College, with a classic curriculum and radical social ideas. The school was, he believed, a “means of training social activists.” He not only allowed African-American students to attend Wheaton, but he housed them in his home.
Besides being an abolitionist, Blanchard was strongly opposed to secret societies and prohibited them at Wheaton. After the Civil War, he turned his attention to fighting secret societies, including fraternities and organizations like the Freemasons.
Ill health forced Jonathan Blanchard to resign from Wheaton College in 1882, but his legacy continued. He helped establish the College as a reputable, stable organization with a singular mission. For this, the main building on the Wheaton College campus, Blanchard Hall, is named in his honor.
Blanchard’s lasting legacy has also been seen in his successors, including his son Charles Blanchard, who followed him as president. Jonathan Blanchard’s grandson, Herman Fischer Jr., served on the Wheaton College board; his great-grandson, John Blanchard, was the Academy’s director from 1962–1965; and his great-great grandson, Harold “Mac” Airhart, was a longtime member of the Academy’s board.
