Editing Hiram College (section)

==History==
On June 12, 1849, representatives of the Disciples of Christ voted to establish an academic institution, which would later become Hiram College.<ref name=HistoricalFacts>{{cite web|title=Historical Facts|url=http://alumni.hiram.edu/?page=history|publisher=Hiram College|access-date=January 21, 2013}}</ref> On November 7 that year, they chose the village of Hiram as the site for the school because the founders considered this area of the [[Connecticut Western Reserve|Western Reserve]] to be "healthful and free of distractions".<ref name="HistoryOfHiram">{{cite web|title=History of the College|url=http://www.hiram.edu/about/history|publisher=Hiram College|access-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref> The following month, on December 20, the founders accepted the suggestion of Isaac Errett and named the school the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute.<ref name=HistoricalFacts/>

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| image1 = WREI-Hiram.jpg 
| caption1 = Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, Hiram, 1858
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| caption2 = James A. Garfield (left), his wife [[Lucretia Rudolph Garfield]] (right) and other faculty in 1858
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The institute's original charter was authorized by the state legislature on March 1, 1850, and the school opened several months later, on November 27. Many of the students came from the surrounding farms and villages of the Western Reserve, but Hiram soon gained a national reputation and students began arriving from other states. On February 20, 1867, the Institute incorporated as a college and changed its name to Hiram College.<ref name=HistoricalFacts/><ref name="HistoryOfHiram"/>

During the years before it was renamed Hiram College, 1850–1867, the school had seven principals, the equivalent of today's college presidents. The two that did the most in establishing and defining the nature of the institution were Disciple minister Amos Sutton Hayden, who led the school through its first six years, and James A. Garfield, who had been a student at the institute from 1851 to 1853 and then returned in 1856 as a teacher. As principal, Garfield expanded the institute's curriculum. He left the Institute in 1861 and in 1880 was elected the 20th President of the United States.<ref name="HistoryOfHiram"/>

In 1870, one of Garfield's best friends and former students, Burke A. Hinsdale, was appointed Hiram's president. Although there were two before him, Hinsdale is considered the college's first permanent president because the others served only briefly. The next president to have a major impact on the college was Ely V. Zollars, who increased enrollment significantly, established a substantial endowment and created a program for the construction of campus buildings. Later presidents who served for at least 10 years were Miner Lee Bates, Kenneth I. Brown, Paul H. Fall, Elmer Jagow, and G. Benjamin Oliver.<ref name="HistoryOfHiram"/>

In 1931, shortly before Hiram celebrated the 100th anniversary of Garfield's birth, there was a debate in the community about changing the name of the school to Garfield College. There were strong advocates on both sides of the issue. Among the 2,000 guests at the centennial celebration were three generations of Garfield's family, including two of his sons. The idea of changing the college's name was not mentioned at the event and the idea was abandoned.<ref>{{cite news|title=Portage Pathways: Forces of Tradition Prevailed Over Bid to Honor Garfield|url=http://www.recordpub.com/opinion/2013/01/06/portage-pathways-forces-of-tradition-prevailed-over-bid-to-honor-garfield|newspaper=Record-Courier|date=January 5, 2013}}</ref>

===Principals and presidents===
The following is a list of the school's leaders since its founding in 1850.<ref name="HistoryOfHiram"/>

====Principals (Western Reserve Eclectic Institute)====
*1850–1856 – [[Amos Sutton Hayden]]
*1857–1861 – [[James A. Garfield]]
*1861–1864 – Harvey W. Everest (Pro Tem)
*1864–1865 – C. W. Heywood (acting)
*1865–1866 – Adoniram J. Thomson (managing)
*1866–1867 – John M. Atwater

====Presidents (Hiram College)====
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*1867–1868 – Silas E. Shepard (acting)
*1868–1870 – John M. Atwater (acting)
*1870–1882 – Burke A. Hinsdale
*1883–1887 – George M. Laughlin
*1887–1888 – Colman Bancroft (acting)
*1888–1902 – Ely V. Zollars
*1902–1903 – James A. Beattie
*1903–1905 – Edmund B. Wakefield (acting)
*1905–1907 – Carlos C. Rowlison
*1907–1930 – Miner Lee Bates
*1930–1940 – Kenneth I. Brown
*1940–1957 – Paul H. Fall
*1957–1965 – [[Paul F. Sharp]]
*1965–1965 – James N. Primm
*1966–1966 – Wendell G. Johnson (acting)
*1966–1985 – Elmer Jagow
*1986–1989 – Russell Aiuto
*1989–1989 – James Norton (interim)
*1990–2000 – G. Benjamin Oliver
*2000–2002 – Richard J. Scaldini
*2003–2014 – [[Thomas V. Chema]]
*2014–2020 – [[Lori E. Varlotta]]
*2020–2023 – David P. Haney
*Present     – Robert E. Bohrer II
{{div col end}}

=== James H. Barrow Field Station ===
In 1967, Paul and Maxine Frohring donated their recently acquired 75 acres of land in Garrettsville to Hiram College to promote wildlife research.<ref name=":0" /> James H. Barrow, a biology professor at the college, founded the Hiram Biological Station on the land, causing the place to later be named in his honor in 1985. Originally, the property had a beech-maple forest, a stream and a bog, but over the years it grew into over 500 acres containing forests, fields, ponds, wetlands, and more.<ref name=":1" /> The Frohring Forest–150 acres of mature beech-maple trees–Silver Creek, Eagle Creek, and the Observation Pond–which has many waterfowl species, along with a pair of trumpeter swans–are some of the Field Stations’ most well-known natural attractions.<ref name=":2" /> The property also contains multiple public hiking trails, and eleven facilities for different uses such as teaching, housing animals, research, and so on. Two of the most notable buildings are the Frohring Laboratory, which uses geothermal heating and cooling and was the first LEED certified building at Hiram, and also houses a miniature indoor aquarium with different breeds of fish, amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally mammals.<ref name=":3" /> The other is the Endangered Waterfowl Conservation Facility, which houses multiple different breeds of endangered birds and allows students to gain valuable hands-on experience.<ref name=":2" /> 

A unique program established by the Field Station is the Grassland Program. Beginning in 2011, Land Stewardship Manager Emliss Ricks has been working on establishing grasslands in three locations on the property.<ref name=":4" /> The first location is a one-acre prairie to maintain the natural plant diversity, and it was established by the late botany professor Matt Hils. The second location is twenty acres, and the main objective here is to protect Silver Creek’s watershed, increase plant diversity, and provide a habitat for diverse species.<ref name=":4" /> The third location is three acres and is located by State Route 82 to act as a display for those passing by.