Merom Conference Center Meet & Greet!

Photograph of Union Christian College teachers and students from 1894. 

Wabash Valley Visions and Voices (WV3) will be hosting a Merom Library Meet & Greet Wednesday, Sept. 30th at 1:00 pm at the Merom Conference Center. The presentation, given by WV3 Project Director Cinda May, will highlight the digitized collection of the historic Merom Conference Center. 

The Merom Conference Center began as the Union Christian College in 1859. Merom was selected to house the twenty-seven acre facility over five other potential destinations, winning the bid of the "New Light Church," now formally known as the United Church of Christ. The New Light Church was seeking for a faith based institute of learning to be erected in Indiana, prompted in part by Rev. E.W. Humphreys,  a cheery Welshman who had arrived in Merom in the early 1850's. At the time, Humphreys was promoting education in the Merom area as well as teaching at the Merom Bluff academy, which was being housed in the former court house. A bid of $35,000 sealed the deal-- on May 17, 1859 Merom was chosen as the future site of Union Christian College. The college would remain rooted in the heart of Merom until its close, which followed commencement exercises on June 4, 1921. 

Union Christian College Faculty and Assistants, April 27, 1984. 

Brown, Robert A. Story of Union Christian College Merom (Sullivan County) Indiana 1859-1924.
     Prairie Creek, Indiana: Robert A. Brown, 1981. Print.

Connections to the Past

Merom Public Library Registration of Borrowers [Jan. 1960-June 1964]

Welcome to the Wabash Valley Visions & Voices new blog! I am pleased to be able to present a selection of the interesting artifacts made readily available for public viewing through the Digital Memory Project, a program dedicated to the documentation and the preservation of the region's history and heritage in print, pictures, and sound. It is my purpose to navigate and highlight distinctive aspects that connect our current with our past. With this goal so readily in mind, I began to pursue a topic for my very fist blog post. Very first! I did not realize how quickly I would discover a personal connection, nevertheless, it hastily surfaced: page 6 of the Merom Public Library Registration of Borrowers gave privy to a glimpse of my 15 year old father, Randy Creed. Incorrectly spelled (Creede), yet still concealed in the Gill Township Sullivan County collection, he resides, along with his sister Darla, and grandmother Eulah, a character I have become acquainted with simply as Grandma Creed and good cooking. This connection vastly intrigued my curiosity and I cannot wait to unearth more examples of connections to our past!

Excerpt from Merom's Registration of borrowers.