Garrett Biblical Institute and Heck Hall

Garrett Biblical Institute, chartered in 1855, stood where Northwestern University campus now stands. The school served as the training ground for Methodist ministers in the Midwest. Garrett Biblical Institute was just one of the institutions which made Evanston a mecca for the Methodist community. The Willard family was drawn to Evanston because of that community. As the Willards came to Evanston and became involved in the community through First Methodist Church and North-Western Female College, they became connected with Garrett Biblical Institute. Oliver Willard, the eldest child, was a student, and Frances Willard was instrumental in the fundraising for Heck Hall. 

Garrett Biblical Institute was one of the focal points of Evanston’s Methodist community. The creation of the Institute resulted from the generosity of Eliza Garrett and the vision of James Dempster that “the Methodist Church stood in pressing need of theological schools”[1]. After founding several schools in Vermont and New Hampshire, Dempster went west and connected with the representatives of Eliza Garrett’s estate, and plans were made to establish a Methodist seminary in Evanston [2]. Dr. Dempster began classes in 1836, and in 1855 Garrett Biblical Institute was formally chartered following the construction and dedication of Dempster Hall [3].  

The Willard family were active members of Evanston’s Methodist Community. Oliver Willard, Frances Willard's older brother, studied at Garrett Biblical Institute after leaving Oberlin College in Ohio. Oliver Willard became a Methodist minister for a brief period following graduation [4].

Frances Willard’s connection to Garrett was through the work of the American Methodist Ladies’ Centenary Association. As Evanston grew, so did the student body of Garrett Biblical Institute. As a result, there was a need for additional buildings to be added to the existing campus. The American Methodist Ladies’ Centenary Association worked to raise the funds needed to build a new dormitory [5]. Frances Willard was the corresponding secretary for the Centenary Association and was responsible for distributing letters to members around the country requesting their help in fundraising [6]. An original copy of the standard letter sent out by Willard has survived. In that letter, she invited the recipient to have their pastor read an appeal from the pulpit and organize communities of Methodist women to devise the method of “securing as many contributions as possible” [7]. The fundraising campaign was a success. A new dormitory for Garrett Biblical Institute was built and named Heck Hall. In her autobiography, Willard called her work with the Centenary Association her “first introduction to a really public career” [8].

[1] Frances Willard, A Classic Town: The Story of Evanston (Chicago: Women’s Temperance Publishing Association, 1892). 28-30. 

[2] Willard, A Classic Town. 31. 

[3] Willard, A Classic Town. 31-32. 

[4] Ruth B. Bordin, Frances Willard: A Biography (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986). 94. 

[5] Frances Willard, Glimpses of 50 Years: The Autobiography of an American Woman (Chicago: Women’s Temperance Publication Association, 1889). 188. 

[6] Ibid. 

[7] WCTU Archives. Collection 2, American Methodist Ladies Centenary Association Fundraising Letter for Heck Hall, 1866. Box 1 Folder 45. 

[8] Willard, Glimpses. 188.