History
The institution traces its origin to 1835 when Scandinavian immigrants established the Hillsboro Academy in Hillsboro, Illinois, with the name changing to “The Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church of the Far West" in 1846. The school later moved to Springfield, Illinois under the name Illinois State University. In 1860 Professor Lars Paul Esbjörn and a group of followers moved to Chicago over differences in matters of doctrine. There they established The Augustana College and Seminary, marking the date that the college identifies as the year of its founding.
As the United States expanded westward during and after the American Civil War, pioneers moved the school to Paxton, Illinois in 1863, and later in succession to Marshall, Wisconsin in 1869; Beloit, Iowa in 1881; and then to Canton, South Dakota in 1888.
The Lutheran Normal School opened in 1889 in Sioux Falls, SD, housed in what is now known as Old Main, with the purpose of educating teachers. But synod officials felt it unwise fiscally having two institutions so close together, the college in Canton only roughly 20 miles (32 km) away. Thus in 1918 the Lutheran Normal School and Augustana College in Canton merged under the name Augustana College and Normal School (ACNS), located in Sioux Falls. In 1926, "and Normal School" was dropped from the name and the site in Canton eventually became Augustana Academy. Despite the similarities in name, it was no longer affiliated with the College and ultimately closed in 1971. The 2010-2011 academic year marks Augustana College’s sesquicentennial.
Augustana draws its name from the origin of the Lutheran Church in the Augsburg Confession, written in 1530 during the period of the Protestant Reformation. "Augustana" stems from the document's Latin name, Confessio Augustana.
Read more about this topic: Augustana College (South Dakota)
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