Berea College Founder’s Day Oct 4 will honor early Berea educators Rev. John A.R. and Elizabeth Rogers

J.A.R. and Elizabeth Rogers are being honored with the John G. Fee Award.  Established in 2001, the award has primarily honored Berea alumni of 1866-1904 who gave distinguished service to their community, especially in the field of education, and whose lives reflect the ideals of Berea founder Rev. John G. Fee and as expressed in the College’s motto “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.”  In 2005, as part of the College’s 150th anniversary celebration, Fee himself was honored.

The Founders’ Day program will include remarks by College President Larry D. Shinn and by great grandsons of the Rogers’ Bryant Rogers of Leesburg, Va., and Bennett Ross Taylor of Minneapolis, Minn.  Other family members expected to attend include eight great-great-grandchildren and 10 other descendents of Rev. and Mrs. Rogers from surrounding states and Florida. The Berea College Black Music Ensemble also will perform as part of the program.

J.A.R.and Elizabeth Rogers settled in Berea in 1858, shortly after Rev. John G. Fee and his wife, Matilda.  Rev. Rogers was a 28-year old graduate of Oberlin College and Seminary.  He had already achieved success as a teacher and minister in Illinois, New York, Ohio and Kentucky, but came to Berea at the invitation of Fee with the ambition of founding a “higher school.”  His wife, Elizabeth Embree Rogers, had also attended Oberlin College and was only 19 years old when the couple moved to Berea.  The Rogerses first taught school terms by subscription at Berea’s one-room school, open to all students without regard to race or gender.

In 1859, Rogers, Fee and other community leaders wrote Berea’s first Constitution.  As the principal author of a document which has changed little fundamentally in almost 150 years, Rogers had a profound influence on the character and mission of Berea which continues today.  The group also was responsible for purchasing the original 110 acres on the Berea Ridge that forms the core of the College campus.  As radical abolitionists who believed in equal educational opportunity, J.A.R. and Elizabeth Rogers shared the values and goals of the Fees and others Bereans and were repeatedly called on to defend them against those who disagreed with their ideas and plans.  Later in 1859, they were forced out of Berea under the threat of violence but continued to work toward establishment of the College during the Civil War.

At the war’s end, J.A.R. and Elizabeth Rogers, the Fees and others returned to Berea and opened Berea Literary Institute, the forerunner of Berea College. Elizabeth taught in the school’s primary department and J.A.R. Rogers served as the school’s Principal, heading it from 1866 until 1869 when Edward Henry Fairchild became Berea’s first president.

The Rogerses were important in establishing Berea College and remained involved in its development for more than 60 years.  J.A.R. Rogers served as Berea College Trustee from 1858-1906.  His other service to Berea was as professor of Greek, librarian, treasurer, fundraiser and an associate pastor.  In 1878, J.A.R. Rogers retired from Berea due to ill-health and with Elizabeth moved to Wisconsin, where he served as pastor of a Presbyterian Church.  In 1906, the couple celebrated 50 years of marriage.  J.A.R. Rogers died the following year at age 79 in Woodstock, Ill.  Elizabeth Rogers maintained an active interest in Berea for many more years and died in 1921.

Two buildings on Berea’s campus honor the Rogerses.  The Rogers Art Building, completed in 1935, is named for J.A.R. Rogers.  Elizabeth Embree Rogers Hall, a women’s residence hall affectionately known as “ER,” was built in 1925.  The building is currently undergoing a total renovation and is scheduled to reopen in fall of 2008.

Berea College is distinctive among institutions of higher learning as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South.  Berea charges no tuition, providing a high quality education to students of great promise but with limited financial resources.  All students must work 10 hours weekly, earning money for books, room and board.  Equal opportunity and diversity have been at the heart of Berea’s mission for 150 years, expressed in its motto “God has made of one blood all peoples of the Earth.”  Berea College’s primary service region is southern Appalachia, but students come from all states in the U.S. and in a typical year, from more than 60 other countries representing a rich diversity of colors, cultures and faiths.  For more information, visit Berea’s website at www.berea.edu

Founders’ Day is sponsored by the Berea College President’s Office.  All are welcome to attend.