Lake Forest College was founded in 1857 by
Reverend Robert W. Patterson as a Presbyterian alternative to the Methodist
Northwestern University in
Evanston. It was originally named
Lind University after Sylvester Lind, who had pledged $80,000 to launch the school. It later merged with Lake Forest Academy in 1974. In 1876
Mary Eveline Smith Farwell started Lake Forest College, a coeducational division of the university, under the leadership of the Reverend Patterson. In 1878, College Hall (now Brown Hall) was built following a fire that destroyed the former hotel being used for classes.
James Gore King McClure arrived in Lake Forest in 1881 as the pastor of the Presbyterian Church. Under his influence over the next 50 years, the college experienced a large transition "from a pluralistic graduate and professional emphasis to a singular undergraduate liberal arts focus," says former Lake Forest College archivist Art Miller (1996–2013), who co-wrote the 2000 book
30 Miles North: A History of Lake Forest College, Its Town, and Its City of Chicago. Also in 1887 Lake Forest established a relationship with the Northwestern College of Dental Surgery (shortly thereafter known as the
Chicago College of Dental Surgery), Chicago's first dental school, to serve as its dental department. The Lake Forest School of Music opened in 1916, affiliated with Ferry Hall until 1918 when it became an independent division of the university. The School of Music incorporated and extended the courses in music hitherto given in other departments, offering a four-year course of study leading to a degree of Bachelor of Music, and was directed by Marta Milinowski, who went on to be Professor of Music at
Vassar College from 1930 to 1950. The School of Music operated through 1922; in 1928 a department of music was established at Lake Forest College. A Summer School of Landscape Architecture was opened in Summer 1916 in cooperation with the
University of Illinois following interest and support from the Garden Club of Lake Forest and trustees of both institutions; the Summer School was directed by Ralph R. Root, Professor of Landscape Architecture at the
University of Illinois. In June, 1925, the Lake Forest University Trustees sold the two preparatory schools
Lake Forest Academy and
Ferry Hall, and the school's focus was narrowed to undergraduate liberal arts at Lake Forest College. In 1960, William Graham Cole, from
Williams College, took over as president and brought with him Eastern faculty and students, further diversifying the campus. During his time as president, in 1965, the school's name was officially changed to Lake Forest College. == Academics ==