History
Drury was founded as Springfield College in 1873 by Congregationalist church missionaries in the mold of other Congregationalist universities such as Dartmouth College and Yale University. Rev. Nathan Morrison, Samuel Drury, and James and Charles Harwood provided the school's initial endowment and organization; Samuel Drury's gift was the largest of the group and the school was soon renamed in honor of Drury's recently deceased son.
The early curriculum emphasized educational, religious and musical strengths. Students came to the new college from a wide area, including the Indian Territories of Oklahoma. The first graduating class included four women.
When classes began in 1873, they were held in a single building on a campus occupying less than 11⁄2 acres (0.61 ha). Twenty-five years later the 40-acre (16.2 ha) campus included Stone Chapel, the President’s House and three academic buildings. Today, the university occupies a 115-acre (46.5 ha) campus, including the original historic buildings.
Drury College became Drury University on January 1, 2000. In addition to the academic programs of the early years, Drury students today study in the Breech School of Business Administration, the Hammons School of Architecture, and the departments of education, mathematics and sciences, social sciences, exercise and sport science. The list of majors and minors at Drury has also grown and now includes high tech studies in computer science, computer information systems and e-commerce.
The College of Graduate and Continuing Studies serves nearly three thousand students in Springfield and at nine branch campuses.
On April 28, 1960, Drury College was the setting for an episode of NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. Tennessee Ernie Ford sang his trademark "Sixteen Tons" and the hymn "Take My Hand, Precious Lord".
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