Philanthopy Responsible for Bradley University by deecat
As a high school teacher who wrote recommendations for students, I was aware of Bradley University in Peoria. However, I was not aware of its history.Bradley University was founded in Peoria in 1897 by Lydia Moss Bradley in memory of her children and husband, Tobias. The Bradley family had gained a fortune through successful dealings in railroads, a flour mill, a distillery, a sawmill, real estate, and the Peoria Pottery Company. After Tobias Bradley died, his wife Lydia continued successfully with the business dealings. She was a philanthropist and did such good deeds as donating 130 acres of land for the Peoria Park District.
Mrs. Bradley decided to found a school where young people could "learn how to do practical things to prepare them for living in the modern world." She purchased a controlling interest in Parsons Horological School in LaPorte, Indiana (the first school for watchmakers in America), and she moved it to Peoria.
She then chartered Bradley Polytechnic Institute and provided seventeen and a half acres of land, $170,000 for buildings and equipment and $30,000 a year for operating expenses!
The school started with 14 faculty & 150 students. Originally organized as a four-year academy (similar to high school) and a 2-year college, there were 400 students.
Mrs. Bradley then transferred to the school the rest of her estate, including nearly 1,000 different pieces of property! The profits from the property was to finance the school.
Mrs. Lydia Bradley Moss died in 1908
Bradley continued to grow and develop; its facilities were in demand during World War I to train automobile and tractor mechanics.
By the 1920s, Bradley dropped the "academy" and became a four-year college program.
After World War II, a Graduate School was established, and the name became Bradley University.
So, without the generous philanthropic donations of Lydia Bradley Moss, there would be no Bradley University