 Email: ted@phelpscorner.com
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Email: ted@phelpscorner.com
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August 4: During the summer of 1908, Nellie Frost, the wife of Berea College President William G. Frost, provided lodging and meals at her home for some 300 guests. It was time, she told her husband, to build a guest house for the College's visitors. The suggestion became a reality in 1909 when what was to become the Boone Tavern Hotel was opened. Built on the old "Dixie Highway," and named after early Kentucky explorer Daniel Boone, the historic Hotel & Restaurant is prominently located on the College Square in Berea, Kentucky. Owned by Berea College and operated with student workers, the facility is nearing its centennial year.
Rev. John G. Fee started a one-room school in 1855 that eventually would become Berea College. Fee, a native of Bracken County, Ky., was a scholar of strong moral character, dedication, determination and great faith. He believed in a school that would be an advocate of equality and excellence in education for men and women of all races. Fee's uncompromising faith and courage in preaching against slavery attracted the attention of Cassius M. Clay, a well-to-do Kentucky landowner and prominent leader in the movement for gradual emancipation. Clay felt he had found in Fee an individual who would take a strong stand on slavery. In 1853, Clay offered Fee a 10-acre homestead on the edge of the mountains if Fee would take up permanent residence there. Fee accepted and established an anti-slavery church with 13 members on a ridge they named "Berea" after the biblical town whose populace was open-minded and receptive to the gospel (Acts 17:10). Berea's distinctive commitments and educational programs have brought the College national recognition. Above all, the excellence of Berea's academic program earns acclaim. U.S. News & World Report has repeatedly named Berea the No. 1 regional college in the South, The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Times of London, and the "Solutions" segment of ABC World News have focused national and international attention on many aspects of the contemporary Berea experience. Full-tuition scholarships provided to all students, the effectiveness of the work program and students' involvement in community service projects are among the features highlighted. Such reports are expected to continue as Berea alumni distinguish themselves in all walks of life and in many parts of the world. You can read more about the college's interesting history here.
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