Wilmington College

Wilmington College is a private college in Wilmington, Ohio. It was established by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1870 and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The college is still Quaker-affiliated and has seven core Quaker values. In fall 2018, the college set an enrollment record, bringing in 450 new students for the academic year, totaling 1,103 students on Wilmington's main campus, and 139 students at Wilmington's two Cincinnati branches at Blue Ash and Cincinnati State. History In 1863 three brothers, Hugh, James, and Thomas Garvin founded Franklin College in Albany, Ohio. After two years in Albany, the college was relocated to Wilmington, where the cornerstone of College Hall was laid on 4 July 1866. The institution was closed in 1868 following the Civil War. In 1870 the half-completed Franklin College building went up for auction. The building and 33 surrounding acres were purchased by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Lewis Estes was named the first president. Following a few years of economic struggle, Estes resigned. Benjamin Trueblood, a 26-year-old recent Earlham College graduate, was named the new president. In 1875, Wilmington College graduated its first class of four students, three females, and one male. South Hall (razed 1956) was the college's first dorm in 1876, and in 1904 the college purchased a former boarding house and named it Twin Ash Hall (demolished 1984). In 1917, Wilmington College acquired the Lebanon National Normal School in Lebanon, Ohio.