Eugene C. Sanderson (March 24, 1859 – February 16, 1940) was an American Christian minister and educator who founded Eugene Divinity School (EDS) in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

in 1895. Today this school is known as

Bushnell University Bushnell University is a private Christian university in Eugene, Oregon. It is historically affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Christian churches and churches of Christ. The institution was renamed from North ...

. He served as its first president from 1895 to 1930. He also founded four other Christian colleges and one hospital.

Early life

Sanderson was born on March 24, 1859, in Greenville,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Sanderson moved to

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

in 1886 and pastored Christian Churches in

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primaril ...

, Colfax,

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and was ...

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, seaside sub ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, and

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

. In 1894 he was pastor at First Christian Church in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Eugene Divinity School

Dr. Sanderson saw a need to train ministers for the Christian Church in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. To do so, he returned to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and completed his doctorate. In early 1895, he took part in a meeting in Eugene, Oregon to discuss establishing a school to train ministers. He strongly believed that locating ministerial schools near state institutions of higher education provided the best of both worlds. Thus, he deliberately located EDS next to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

(UO) near East 11th Avenue and Alder Street to take advantage of the UO liberal arts program while EDS focused primarily on the ministerial courses including Bible, theology, music, and oratory. Eugene Divinity School became Eugene Bible University (EBU) in 1908.Goodrich, Martha A. ''History of Northwest Christian College''. Eugene, OR: unpublished MA thesis, University of Oregon, 1949. In 1908 the Administration Building was constructed. It is three stories tall and was constructed of volcanic stone from southern Oregon. Other buildings were constructed during his tenure, including the Music Building.

Other institutions

During the 1920s Eugene Bible University, under Sanderson's leadership, expanded to include a number of other enterprises by incorporating the International Bible Mission (IBM). These two institutions were closely linked, especially financially. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, both EBU and IBM found themselves overextended and financially in default. Operations were scaled back to just the Eugene campus of EBU. He founded Pacific Christian Hospital, which is now PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District, across Alder Street from EBU. There was a need for a good medical facility in Eugene at this time. Local citizens looked to Sanderson, because of his reputation, to develop such a facility. Construction began in February 1923. It opened on March 17, 1924. The six story building cost about $225,000. It included a School for Nurses where a three-year program led to a degree as a

Registered Nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

. In 1936 it was sold to the

Sisters of St. Joseph of Newark __notoc__ The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace are a Roman Catholic religious order of women which was founded in January 1884 in the Diocese of Nottingham, England by Margaret Anna Cusack. History Cusack was raised in the Anglican church, but conver ...

for $50,000 and renamed Sacred Heart General Hospital. He served as the second president of Minneapolis Bible College (now

Crossroads College Crossroads College (originally International Christian Bible College and later Minnesota Bible College) was a four-year, coeducational Christian college in Rochester, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1913 and ceased offering classes in ...

) in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

from 1924 to 1932. It had been founded by David E. Olsen, a 1908 graduate of EDS, in 1913. He founded several schools across the United States that still exist including Christian Workers University (now

Manhattan Christian College Manhattan Christian College (MCC) is a private Christian college in Manhattan, Kansas. It was founded in 1927 as Christian Workers University. The institution's name was changed to Manhattan Bible College in 1930 and Manhattan Christian Colle ...

) in 1927 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

; and Evangel Bible University (now

William Jessup University William Jessup University is a private Christian university in Rocklin, California, with an additional site in San Jose, California. The university had 1,743 students during the 2019–20 academic year, over 1650 being full-time equivalents. Foun ...

Rocklin, California Rocklin is a city in Placer County, California, about from Sacramento, and about northeast of Roseville in the Sacramento metropolitan area. Besides Roseville, it shares borders with Granite Bay, Loomis and Lincoln. As of the 2010 census, Ro ...

) in 1934 in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. This latter institution did not do well and his health was failing, so Sanderson asked one of his former students, William Jessup, a 1930 graduate of EBU, to take over. It was renamed San Jose Bible College in 1939. He founded several schools that no longer exist. The first was Seattle Bible College in 1919, later renamed Eugene Bible University Extension Hall. The next was Colorado Bible College in 1927 in

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. And finally Missouri Christian College in 1928 in Camden Point,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He started a Home and School for Boys in Eugene in 1926 and another in 1927 in

El Monte, California } El Monte (Spanish for "The Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of the city of Los Angeles. El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and is historically ...

. In addition, he also started a Girl's Junior College which operated from 1911 to 1929 in Eugene. Finally, he started a Home for the Aged in Eugene in 1927. All of these are no longer in existence. A number of his former students, many graduates of EDS and EBU, were involved with him in establishing these enterprises. In addition, many faculty from EBU helped with these various institutions.

Academic background

Sanderson earned

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degrees from

Oskaloosa College Oskaloosa College was a liberal arts college based out of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Work was begun on establishing the college in 1855, under the influence of Aaron Chatterson and was affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The college ...

in 1883. He then spent a year at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. Later he earned

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

and

Doctorate of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

degrees from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

in 1893, followed by a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred ...

degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1894.

Publications

In 1912 Sanderson published a book titled ''Our English Bible''. In order to publicize the evangelical and educational work of EBU and IBM he published the ''Church and School'' paper, starting in 1909. It became the ''Christian Journal'' in 1915 and the ''World Evangel'' in 1925. It ceased publication in 1934.

Death

Sanderson died on February 16, 1940, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Both he and his wife Prudence are buried in Eugene Masonic Cemetery.

References

External links

*
Bushnell University History

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Eugene Claremont 1859 births 1940 deaths American Protestant ministers and clergy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergy Drake University alumni Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Oskaloosa College alumni People from Greenville, Ohio Bushnell University Religious leaders from Ohio University and college founders University of Chicago alumni Drake University Law School alumni