Marking History

GAMBIER, Ohio (October 10, 2003) Kenyon will celebrate a distinguished alumnus, a charismatic College president, and the first man in Ohio to heed President Abraham Lincoln's call for Union Army volunteers when it dedicates an Ohio Bicentennial Historical Marker this month in honor of Lorin Andrews. The dedication ceremony will take place Tuesday, October 21, at 11:10 a.m. near the Kenyon cemetery, where Andrews is buried.

Kenyon's sixth president, Andrews studied at the College from 1840 to 1843 and achieved renown as an Ohio school superintendent and advocate for public elementary and secondary education. In 1854, he assumed the top post at Kenyon, enlarging the College and seeking to enhance its reputation.

The historical marker recognizes Andrews as the first Ohioan "to answer the call of his country in 1861. He served as colonel of the Fourth O.V.I. in the first campaign against the great Rebellion, and died, a martyr to the Union, September 18, 1861, aged forty-two years, honored and beloved by all."

Andrews's contribution to Ohio education and the nation was celebrated with a Bicentennial Moment at the Ohio House of Representatives on October 7. State Representative Thom Collier, who delivered the address, remarked: "What strikes me the most about Lorin Andrews was his leadership-to serve as an example-in placing his life on the line." He noted that "when Lorin Andrews was buried at Kenyon College, the bells tolled forty-two times, once for each year of his life. Let us not forget a leader in faith, a leader in education, a leader of men."

The Kenyon bells will toll again at the dedication ceremony, which will include comments from Kenyon President S. Georgia Nugent and representatives of the Ohio Historical Society and Ohio Bicentennial Commission.

The Lorin Andrews historical marker is the second of three Kenyon-related markers. The first, dedicated last spring, honored Kenyon as the oldest private institution of higher learning in Ohio. The third, recognizing the literary contributions of the Kenyon Review, will be dedicated on Tuesday, October 28.

Proposals for the three markers, which included extensive research, were prepared by Special Assistant to the President Howard Sacks and Associate Vice President for Communications Thomas P. Stamp. The markers, in Sacks's words, provide "tangible records of Kenyon's significant contributions to the character of our state and of the nation."

One of the nation's leading liberal arts and sciences colleges and home to the Kenyon Review, Kenyon College offers 1,594 students a challenging educational experience enriched by a culture of friendship. Graduates of the College have included actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and Pulitzer-prize winning author E. L. Doctorow.