Title: William Goodell Frost Papers
Arrangement
Arrangement of the collection is in series: Personal; Correspondence; Sermons, Addresses, and Lectures;Writings; Day Law; Reports; Eleanor Marsh Frost; Miscellaneous; and Photographs.
Abstract
Frost, a native of LeRoy, New York, was an 1876 graduate of Oberlin College and taught Greek at him alma materfrom 1876 through 1892. Having refused the presidency of Berea College in 1889, Frost reconsidered theappointment after the resignation of William B. Stewart. Frost was inaugurated in 1892 and served as presidentuntil 1920. Frost is credited with being chiefly responsible for the significant growth of Berea College during thisperiod. His term saw enrollment rise from 350 in 1912 to 2400 in 1920, and the College’s endowment increasefrom $1,000,000 to $3,500,000 over the same period. He was also responsible for re-directing the school'smission from that of coeducation of blacks and whites to one which focused on educating "AppalachianAmericans", a term he is credited with popularizing. This shift took place contemporaneously with passage ofthe Kentucky Day Law (1904) which forbade integration of blacks and whites within single institutions. Thisresulted in removal of black students from the college and the establishment by Berea of the Lincoln Institute inLouisville, a separate school solely for blacks.
