Throughout its history, the American Baptist Churches – USA has been a denomination devoted to the perseverance of religious liberty, Christian missions, and diverse expressions of faith. Exemplifying these principles was missionary John M. Peck. In the early 17th century, Rev. John Mason Peck, an American Baptist missionary, traveled to the “gateway city” of St. Louis and its surrounding communities to further develop the denomination’s mission in the area. Peck promoted the need for an “educated clergy” and founded a seminary in Alton, IL in 1827. This seminary (known as Rock Springs Seminary and also to some as Alton Seminary) was located in modern-day Upper Alton at the intersection of College Avenue and Seminary Street.
In 1836, Dr. John Shurtleff of Boston, donated $10,000 to the seminary and the school was subsequently named after Dr. Shurtleff: Shurtleff College. Years later, in 1910, American Industrialist Andrew Carnegie donated a sum of $15,000 to the college for construction of a library on the campus. In 1950, Shurtleff reached its peak enrollment of 700 students, graduating 99 students that year. Shurtleff College was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1910 – 1937.
Shurtleff College ceased operating on June 30, 1957. The campus was sold to Southern Illinois University, which desired to start an extension campus in the growing St. Louis metropolis. In the fall of 1957, Southern Illinois University officially began operating as such at the old Shurtleff College campus. Students enrolled at Shurtleff at the time continued their education and the last twenty-eight students of Shurtleff College graduated in 1958. The college's first year as an SIU campus saw a jump in enrollment to 1,200 students. In two years the enrollment doubled. Shurtleff College was the oldest Baptist college west of the Appalachians until it was absorbed by Southern Illinois University.
With the closing of Shurtleff College, the Shurtleff Foundation was formed to administer the funds accumulated by the sale of the college. One primary objective of the Shurtleff Foundation was to maintain an American Baptist campus ministry, in the Shurtleff spirit, on the new Southern Illinois University campus in Upper Alton. The Shurtleff Foundation formed the Shurtleff Baptist Campus Ministry in 1957 to provide religious services to the students at the college. A plot of land (formerly a men’s residence hall) at the intersection of Leverett Street and Worden Street in Upper Alton was retained by the Shurtleff Foundation and a parsonage/office for a Shurtleff Baptist Campus Minister was constructed on the site.
The Alton campus of Southern Illinois University flourished until 1965 when the SIU Board of Trustees constructed and opened a new campus in nearby Edwardsville, IL. One of the primary buildings on this new campus was subsequently named to honor Rev. John Mason Peck. Peck Hall, today, is a thoroughfare to academia on the SIUe campus, housing numerous lecture halls and faculty and support service offices for the School of Arts and Science. The old Shurtleff College campus in Upper Alton was retained by SIU and was later (1972) opened as the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. This school is still operational today on the site. Many of the original Shurtleff College buildings are still standing and are utilized by the dental school, including the grandiose Shurtleff College Administrative Building, and the Carnegie Library. Also during this time, the Shurtleff Baptist Campus Ministry continued to minister to the growing SIU community out of the parsonage/office on Leverett St in Upper Alton, with the campus minister commuting to the new main campus in Edwardsville.
In 1971, a group of Christian denominations worked together to construct a Religious Center on the new SIU campus at Edwardsville. The Religious Center (known today as the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability) is still operational and a central structure on the quickly growing Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Campus. The Shurtleff Baptist Campus Ministry quickly moved from its location on Leverett St in Upper Alton to its new home at the Religious Center on the SIUe campus that same year under the leadership of campus minister Rev. Virgil “Joe” Santee. The Shurtleff Baptist Campus Ministry has been operating out of the Religious Center (the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability) continuously since 1971 and is, today, the longest standing Protestant denomination providing campus ministry to the SIUe community. Today, the Shurtleff Baptist Campus Ministry continues its mission of providing religious service to the 13,000+ students of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville just the same as it did over 50 years ago when the SIU campus began in Alton. Additionally, Shurtleff groups are forming on the campus of Lewis and Clark Community College (formerly the Monticello College for Girls) in Godfrey, the SIUe School of Dental Medicine on the original Shurtleff campus in Upper Alton, and at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. While much has changed over time, the mission of the Shurtleff Foundation to provide campus ministry, the purpose of the Shurtleff Baptist Campus Ministry to continue ministry in the “spirit” of Shurtleff College, and the passion of Rev. John Mason Peck remains constant throughout the years as we enter another age in American Baptist ministry and history.
