Editing Kalamazoo College (section)

==History==
[[File:James Andrus Blinn Stone.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[James Stone (academic administrator)|James Stone]], former president of Kalamazoo College]]
Kalamazoo College was founded in 1833 by a group of Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute. Its charter was granted on April 22, 1833, the first school chartered by the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |first=Charles |last=Goodsell |author2=Willis Dunbar |title=Centennial History of Kalamazoo College: 1833-1933 |year=1933 |page=11 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Instruction at the Institute began in fall 1836.  In 1837, the name of the fledgling college was changed to the Kalamazoo Literary Institute and school officials made their first attempt to secure recognition as a college from the state of Michigan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |title=Willis and Dunbar |page=24 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1838, however, the [[University of Michigan]] opened the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan, providing a local competitor to the Literary Institute.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |title=Willis and Dunbar |page=27 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  In 1840, the two schools merged, and from 1840 to 1850, the college operated as the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan.<ref name="kpl.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.kpl.gov/local-history/education/kalamazoo-college.aspx/ |publisher=Kalamazoo Public Library |title=Local History}}</ref> In 1850, the Kalamazoo Literary Institute name was restored and in 1855 the school finally received an educational charter from the State of Michigan; it was now officially a college.<ref name="Willis and Dunbar">{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |title=Willis and Dunbar |page=57 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The school changed its name to Kalamazoo College.

[[James Stone (academic administrator)|James Stone]], the first president of Kalamazoo College, led the school from 1842 through 1863 and was responsible for instituting the high academic standards that allowed the college to receive its charter. Shortly after becoming president, Stone proposed the addition of a theological seminary to increase the supply of ministers in the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |title=Willis and Dunbar |page=46 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> With the support of the Baptist church, classes at the Kalamazoo Theological Seminary began in 1848 with 11 students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |title=Willis and Dunbar |page=50 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> At the same time, the Female Department continued to expand under the watchful eye of [[Lucinda Hinsdale Stone]].<ref name="Willis and Dunbar"/> In 1845–46, almost half of the 90 students enrolled in Kalamazoo were women.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |title=Willis and Dunbar |page=43 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Kalamazoo College also served as a pioneer in [[Coeducation|coed education]], granting its first degree to a woman, Catherine V. Eldred, in 1870.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |title=Willis and Dunbar |page=87 |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307064406/http://dspace.nitle.org/handle/10090/3405 |archive-date=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Brown Hall and Dormitory, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI.jpg|thumb|left|Brown Hall and dormitory in 1906]]

In 1877, Kalamazoo College students published the first edition of ''[[The Index (Kalamazoo College)|The Index]]'', a student-run newspaper that continues to publish today. The college also publishes ''The Cauldron'', an annual literary-arts journal, and ''The Passage'', an annual compilation of students' work from study abroad.

Kalamazoo College's reputation was built during the presidency of [[Weimer Hicks]], who served from 1954 to 1971.<ref name="kpl.gov"/> Hicks conceived of the "K Plan" program under which most Kalamazoo students spend at least one term abroad and spend at least one term working in an academic internship.

On January 3, 2006, Kalamazoo College opened the new Upjohn Library Commons which includes the completely renovated skeleton of the older library, and an extension which adds to its volume capacity.

A marker designating the college as a [[List of Michigan State Historic Sites|Michigan Historic Site]] was erected in 1983 by the [[Michigan State Historic Preservation Office|Michigan History Division, Department of State]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=74525 |title=Michigan Historical Markers - Kalamazoo College |website=www.hmdb.org |publisher=Historical Marker Data Base |access-date=August 4, 2022}}</ref> The inscription reads:

<blockquote>The first classroom building for the Michigan and Huron Institute, now Kalamazoo College, was erected on this site between June and September of 1836. The charter bill for the school had been introduced in the Michigan Territorial Legislative Council on January 18, 1833, and signed into law by Governor George B. Porter on April 22, 1833. Village pledges supplied funds for the two-story frame classroom structure, which was the start of Michigan’s first church-related college.
</blockquote>