Marking History
Bicentennial markers celebrate Kenyon contributions
Kenyon celebrated a distinguished alumnus and president, as well as the Kenyon Review's contributions to American literature, when it dedicated two Ohio Bicentennial Historical Markers in the fall.The first marker honors Lorin Andrews as a charismatic College president and the first man in Ohio to heed President Abraham Lincoln's call for Union Army volunteers. The dedication ceremony took place October 21 near the Kenyon cemetery, where Andrews is buried. The marker was the second of three installed on the Kenyon campus under a program administered by the Ohio Historical Society.
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 became Kenyon's sixth president, 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.
The Kenyon Review historical marker, dedicated November 1, summarizes the Review's founding by Kenyon President Gordon Keith Chalmers and poet-critic John Crowe Ransom. Noting that the journal became "one of the most influential and honored literary magazines in America," the marker also calls attention to a number of Kenyon writers, including Robert Lowell '40, Peter Taylor '40, E.L. Doctorow '52, and James Wright '52.
The first historical marker, dedicated in the spring of 2003, is devoted to the College as the state's oldest private institution of higher learning. To read the complete text as it appears on all three markers, visit the historical marker Web page at http://lbis.kenyon.edu/sca/markers.
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