The national historic landmark Eleutherian College building, located on the old “Paris Pike Road” about 10 miles northeast of Madison, was specially built for acoustic music performance. “It was the 1850’s, and there was no such thing as electric amplification or anything like that.” explains Jan Vetrhus, board member of the non-profit that owns and maintains the college. “They featured music education in all phases of their curriculum, plus oration and elocution. Students were taught how to project their voices and how to speak and sing clearly.
“The main hall of the college was built to naturally amplify and enhance speeches and musical performances,” continues Jan. “It’s quite common for new visitors, when stepping into the large auditorium for the first time, to spontaneously break into song! The acoustics and natural reverb are just mesmerizing. We’ve had vocal choir groups that frankly didn’t want to leave after their performance. They just kept singing, entranced by the experience.”
The fascinating history of Eleutherian College is too in depth to cover fully in this article. But you should definitely read Wikipedia about its founding and purpose. In a nutshell, it was founded by anti-slavery Baptists who admitted students without regard to ethnicity or gender, including freed and fugitive slaves. It was the first diverse and inclusive higher education institution in Indiana.
The college was founded in large part as a response to the Exclusion Laws which were being passed in Indiana in the 1850’s, which essentially outlawed African Americans from living in our state. And the law required black people already living here to register with the local government. It was a pretty shameful time in our Hoosier history, but Eleutherian stood out as a beacon of equity amidst the prevailing racist sentiment.
“We want to have more music performances here,” says Jan, “both to continue the tradition of the place and to expose more people to what we have out here on our shining little hill. It’s really well suited to choral music, of course violins sound great, and any kind of Americana music that is built around an acoustic sound works well. We had Saxton’s Cornet Band play recently, and that was just amazing. Berea College brought a busload of singers up to perform and enjoy the hall, and we pretty much had to turn out the lights and shoo them out, they were having so much fun.
“If anyone is thinking they might like to host a musical performance here at the college, we would be happy to talk to you about it. We’re open to concerts, recitals, choral groups that want to experience the acoustic excellence, or even plays or speeches. Go to Eleutherian-College.org and you’ll find our contact info. Or if you just want to visit and tour the college, we welcome that too. Again, just go to the website, contact us, and we’ll set up an appointment for a private tour.
“People who have not been here before are quite surprised and delighted. There’s this amazingly large three-storey stone structure sitting up on a rise, very picturesque and striking. The town of Lancaster that used to surround the college is essentially gone, so it feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s just so fascinating to think about the currents of history and culture that led to it being built and then ultimately abandoned. It’s a great story and we want to share it.”
HOT TIP OF THE WEEK:
We appreciate all our musical venues in town, of course, including the newly opened Mad Paddle that is really hitting it out of the park. But as I look at the calendar again this week, we have to give a big special shout out to our friends at Rivertown Grill (downtown) and Tailgators (up on the hilltop.) Tailgators is hosting live music, including Karaoke, every night of the week from Wednesday thru Sunday, and Rivertown Grill is right there with them with music on Wednesday, two shows on Friday, Karaoke on Saturday and a band on Sunday. A sort of different event you might want to take a look at is Saturday night at Red Bicycle Hall, where House of Jane is a Totally Rad Dance Party! Not sure of the details, but it will most assuredly be … totally rad.
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