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1890 (in Fort Wayne from 1944) – present
Founded: 1890, in Lafayette, Indiana, as Saint Francis Normal School, by the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration — who had come from Germany in 1875 — to train sister-teachers. It was a junior college until 1937 and Saint Francis College from 1940.
Course: In 1944 the sisters bought part of industrialist John H. Bass's Fort Wayne estate — 65 acres for 65,000 dollars — and moved the college to the city; it was dedicated October 1, 1944, with Bishop John F. Noll. Trinity Hall was completed in 1947. A graduate school opened in 1960, and the name became University of Saint Francis in 1998. The Bass mansion, Brookside, stands on the National Register of Historic Places. Sister M. Elise Kriss was president for 27 years, to June 30, 2020; the Rev. Dr. Eric Albert Zimmer followed on July 1, 2020.
Fate: Operating — main campus of 132 acres at 2701 Spring St, with USF Downtown opened in 2016.
Sources:
- University of Saint Francis, institutional history (sf.edu) — Lafayette 1890; the 1944 move; Brookside.
- University of Saint Francis (Wikipedia) — the name line; the Kriss and Zimmer presidencies.