William J. Hutchins Papers

Hutchins, born in 1850 and native of Brooklyn, New York, attended Oberlin College, Yale University, and Oberlin Theological Seminary. In 1896 he graduated from Union Theological Seminary and was ordained a Presbyterian minister, receiving his first pastorate at Bedford Church in Brooklyn.  Later that same year,Hutchins married Anna Laura Murch of Cleveland (whom he had met at Oberlin). In 1907, Hutchins was appointed professor of homiletics in the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology. On October 22, 1920, he became president of Berea College, succeeding William G. Frost (who had been a teacher of Hutchins while at Oberlin). Recognizing the remarkable changes in Appalachia and the United States in the wake of World War I, Hutchins realized that the College would need to adapt to such changes.  As such, during his nineteen year tenure as Berea College President, Hutchins worked to expand the college’s physical plant, increase the endowment fund, close the Vocational School, consolidate the Normal School, and strengthen the collegiate programs. This period also saw a great increase in the number of buildings on campus. During his tenure, Hutchins also served as an advisor to the Danforth Foundation and traveled extensively to India for the Commission on Higher Christian Education in India. Hutchins retired from Berea College in 1939, being succeeded by his son Francis S. Hutchins.  He is the second of three generations of the Hutchins family associated with Berea: his father, Robert G. Hutchins, was pastor of Union Church from 1919 to 1921; and his son, Francis S. Hutchins, became Berea's fifth president, serving from 1939 to 1967. Hutchins's eldest son, Robert Maynard Hutchins, was president of the University of Chicago from 1929 to1945.  Hutchins passed away in 1958 and is buried in the Berea Cemetery.