North Western Christian University (NWCU ) Abolitionist Beginnings

In 1847, abolitionist Disciples of Christ leaders in Indiana proposed founding a university on free soil. The closest Disciples school was in Virginia, a slave-holding state. In 1850, Ovid Butler wrote the charter and began fund-raising. Butler desired to see NWCU “occupy a position in the front ranks of human progress…as the Experiment and Advocate of the common rights of humanity without distinction on account of sex, race or color.”Use of this image is restricted to projects related to Destination Indiana. IHS may not reproduce.Destination Indiana - Butler University Journe