Historical Presbyterian Collection and College Archives Collection

Livingstone Lodge, the "Inky," was one of many missionary homes on or near campus.

Historical Presbyterian Collection

The College of Wooster was founded in 1866 as a Presbyterian college. Until 1969 it was owned by The Synod of Ohio.

Between Fall 1870, when the college opened its doors, and 1905, at least 40 percent of all library donations were made by Presbyterian clergymen or their families. In 1892, according to early library accession ledgers, 38 percent of the library's collection was comprised of works of religion and theology. These volumes emphasized several of the college's ties to the Presbyterian Church and missionary work abroad, especially missionary work in Africa and Asia. Many titles from these early donations now reside in Special Collections.

Special Collections houses many early proceedings and works tied to the history of Presbyterians in Ohio, including documents related to the Free Presbyterian Church. The Free Presbyterian Church was an anti-slavery movement within the Presbyterian Church established in 1847 in Ohio under the leadership of John Rankin. Many of the materials in this collection are transcripts produced by E. B. Welsh between the 1930s and 1950s.

All titles have been catalogued and appear in the CONSORT and OhioLINK databases.

Finding Tool

The College Archives Collection

The College Archives Collection includes information on the college’s ties to The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Synod of Ohio, The Synod of the Covenant, and Westminster Presbyterian Church (Wooster, Ohio). Since it’s founding in 1866, the college has had ties to foreign and domestic missionary communities. In our buildings and grounds files, we have records related to campus missionary homes, such as "The Inky" (incubator), a building operated by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions as a home for the sons of missionaries. In our miscellaneous files, we have correspondence between the college and the Board of Foreign Missions.