Jay Vaune L.
Vasquez November 22, 2021
Chapter 13. The Expansion of Institutions, 1877-1900
It was in the last two decades of the ninetieth century when Adventist institutions began to
boom. The most successful institution that time was the Adventist education. In the Spring of 1882,
Battle Creek College was facing a crisis. The crisis gave significant insights to other colleges in
Healdsburg and South Lancaster. Eventually, it was resolved by constructing dormitories where
students could reside and by integrating manual labor, as was advised by Ellen White.
Headed by Dr. Kellogg, the combination of intellectual learning and manual labor attracted
students. However, not everyone is agreeing on the idea. President W.W Presscott sought for other
ideas that would engage physical activity. Soon, ball games like football, tennis, and soccer were
on the fields of Battle Creek College. They had a match that was then revoked by Ellen White
pointing out that this is not the recreation that would give time to spiritual prosperity of students.
Understanding the point of Ellen White, Presscott began to set strict guidelines in the institution
such as students were required to join chapels. Despite the strictness, number of enrollees hiked
up to 500. Soon, the General Conference decided to build local schools in other conferences to
address the wants of others to enroll in an Adventist institution but can’t because of the distance
and the expense. The General conference contributed $20,000 to the conferences along Mississippi
River and Rocky Mountains for dormitories. Presscott and other conference leaders were
responsible in looking for the location. The construction began 1890 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Through the financial aid of the General Conference Representative A.R Henry, the Union College
opened on the fall of 1891. Next, Presscott saw the opportunity to improve the educational effort
in the Pacific Northwest. Combining the efforts in Oregon, Walla Walla College was established
on 1892 with E.A Sutherland as the principal and soon became the President. They prepared a lot
a week before the opening and studied on Ellen White’s educational counsels. On 1895, there were
a total of five colleges, five academies and 15-20 preparatory schools. This includes the rise of
Adventist education on Australia in 1891, South Africa in 1893, and in North America. The
Avondale School in Australia was directly supervised and guided by the vision of Ellen White.
Despite the initial doubts of the soil quality, the Avondale School yield prosperous harvest not
only in material fruits but also in the number of enrollees. The school served also as a basis for
other SDA School developments such as the practicability in establishing a school in rural area,
the need for systematic students’ aid funds, and heeding of Ellen White’s counsels. With plans to
make local church schools, Presscott, along with Ellen White, Elder E.J Waggoner, Elder A.T
Jones, and P.T Magan, convened at Harbor Springs in 1891 to talk about the principles of Adventist
education. Starting in the Battle Creek College, everyone pushed for an Educational Reform.
On the other hand, medical institutions were also on a continuous building program with
Dr. Kellogg being so dedicated in the field. He was able to build a good reputation in Battle Creek
Sanitarium in 1880. He was partnered with Dr. Kate Lindsay for the success on the School of
Nursing. Dr. Kellogg worked on the Sanitarium School of Medical Missionaries gearing people to
care for the individual needs by being knowledgeable in everything related to health. He extended
the programs to care for the poor through the Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association.
There was no certain individual to man the success of the publishing expansion, however,
the Review and Herald press grew to be the best in the West, to which C.H Jones may have
managed that time. Profits were used to procure equipment and finance for expansion and branches
at New York in 1888, London in 1893, and a dozen more publishing houses beyond the borders of
United States. Specifically, a worldwide rise in the publishing expansion on the 1890’s at
Australia, France, India, Argentina, Canada, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, and Germany.
