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Upsala College was a private college affiliated with the Swedish-American Augustana Synod (now the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church) and located in East Orange in Essex County, New Jersey in the United States. Originally founded in 1893 in Brooklyn, in New York City, Upsala later moved to Kenilworth, New Jersey, and finally to East Orange in 1924. In the 1970s, Upsala considered moving to Wantage Township in rural Sussex County (where it opened a satellite campus) as East Orange's crime problem and social conditions deteriorated. However, college administration and trustees chose to remain committed to East Orange. Declining enrollment and financial difficulties forced the school to close in 1995.

History

Early history

Upsala College was founded at the 1893 annual meeting of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America, known as the Augustana Synod—a conservative Lutheran church body with roots in the amongst the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish immigrant community. The Augustana Synod placed an emphasis on mission, ecumenism, and social service. The Synod chose a young minister, the Rev. Lars Herman Beck (1859–1935) as the college's first president. Beck, himself a Swedish immigrant to the United States, had received his Ph.D. from Yale University in the previous year and turned down a teaching position at Yale to assume the post at Upsala.^[1]

Upsala received its name partly in reference to the historic University of Uppsala in Sweden and partly in memory of the Meeting of Uppsala, which had taken place in 1593 – exactly 300 years before the founding of the college – establishing Lutheran Orthodoxy in the country after the attempts of King John III to reintroduce Roman Catholic liturgy. (Upsala is an archaic spelling variation of Uppsala, replaced in the early part of the 20th century by the version with two Ps, except in some proper nouns which have retained the old spelling.)

The college originally opened in Brooklyn, New York City, New York and later moved to Kenilworth, New Jersey in 1898 before settling in East Orange in 1924.

The school maintained high academic standards for many years, gaining a reputation as an excellent small college, with a vibrant campus life. After the passage of Title IX, Audrey Donnelly became the school's Women's Tennis Coach.

In 1989, Upsala hosted the National Forensics Association national collegiate speech championship, which featured over 1,100 competitors over five days of competition.

However, the surrounding community's crime rate increased, and student enrollment declined throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.

Upsala's men basketball team made it to the 1980 NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship, losing to North Park University, 83 to 76.

Wirths Campus in Wantage

Before it closed in 1995, Upsala operated a 245 acres (99 ha) satellite campus in Wantage Township in northwestern New Jersey which it named the "Wirth Campus." In 1978, the land had been donated by Wallace "Wally" Wirths (1921–2002), a former Westinghouse Corporation executive, author, local newspaper columnist and radio commentator.^[2] ^[3] The school had considered moving to Sussex County as East Orange's crime problem and social conditions deteriorated in the 1970s but chose to remain committed to East Orange. However, declining enrollment and financial difficulties forced the school to close.^[4]^[5] The Wirths family bought back their farm in Wantage from the college for $75,000.^[3]

After closing

The college's campus in East Orange was later sold to the East Orange School District, which built a high school on the site's eastern half and sold the western portion to the city.

The East campus became East Orange Campus High School, a public secondary school operated by the East Orange School District. Former East campus buildings Beck Hall, Puder Hall, Viking Memorial Hall (gymnasium) and College Center survived to be incorporated into the new high school. The property and buildings on the West Campus were neglected, left to deteriorate and became a serious eyesore. All structures suffered acts of looting and vandalism and one building was lost to fire. The surviving West campus buildings were demolished in the Spring of 2006. Today, the Western site has been redeveloped for upscale housing.

The campus was featured as a demolition project – used resources recovery – in the "Coal Miner" episode in season 2 of Dirty Jobs, a popular show on the Discovery Channel. It initially aired on August 8, 2006.

Upsala's campus radio station, WFMU, remains in operation; a nonprofit company known as Auricle Communications purchased WFMU's license shortly before Upsala went bankrupt.

The 2001 film Riding in Cars with Boys was filmed on the campus.

Notable people

References

^ "Series I Presidential Papers" in the "Upsala College records, 1893-1995" held in the collection of the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois). Retrieved 16 August 2013.
^ Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois) Swenson Center Archives: Wirths Campus in Sussex County records - Series XIV, Boxes 1-6, folders 1-55. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
^ ^a ^b Strunksy, Steve. "IN BRIEF; Dream of a College Tinged With Sadness", The New York Times, August 2, 1998. (Retrieved July 10, 2012).
^ Rothstein, Mervyn. "IN BRIEF: Against Odds, Revival For Troubled College", The New York Times, September 21, 1992. (Retrieved July 10, 2012.
^ "IN BRIEF: The Doors Are Closed At Upsala College", The New York Times, June 4, 1995. (Retrieved July 10, 2012).

External links

Upsala College Alumni Page
Jim Coleman's website on Upsala College
Bill Taebel's website on Upsala College
Upsala photographs on Flickr.com
I nya Uppsala. Bref från Carl Sundbeck (Swedish, "In New Uppsala. Letter from Carl Sundbeck"), article in the Swedish periodical Hvar 8 Dag, 3:36 (1902).
City of East Orange - Press Release: Groundbreaking Ceremonies for Woodlands at Upsala
Website of former Upsala College radio station

40°46′34″N 74°12′34″W / 40.776212°N 74.209312°W / 40.776212; -74.209312

[UpsalaCollPresidentialPapersatAC-1] "Series I Presidential Papers" in the "Upsala College records, 1893-1995" held in the collection of the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois). Retrieved 16 August 2013.

[UpsalaCollegeWirthsRecords-2] Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois) Swenson Center Archives: Wirths Campus in Sussex County records - Series XIV, Boxes 1-6, folders 1-55. Retrieved 22 May 2013.

[NYTWirthsUpsala-3] Strunksy, Steve. "IN BRIEF; Dream of a College Tinged With Sadness", The New York Times, August 2, 1998. (Retrieved July 10, 2012).

[4] Rothstein, Mervyn. "IN BRIEF: Against Odds, Revival For Troubled College", The New York Times, September 21, 1992. (Retrieved July 10, 2012.

[5] "IN BRIEF: The Doors Are Closed At Upsala College", The New York Times, June 4, 1995. (Retrieved July 10, 2012).

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@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 ===Early history===
+Upsala College was founded at the 1893 annual meeting of the [[Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church|Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America]], known as the [[Augustana Synod]]—a conservative Lutheran church body with roots in the amongst the [[Swedish-Americans|Swedish]], [[Norwegian-Americans|Norwegian]] and [[Danish-American|Danish]] immigrant community.  The Augustana Synod placed an emphasis on mission, ecumenism, and social service.  The Synod chose a young minister, the Rev. Lars Herman Beck (1859–1935) as the college's first president.  Beck, himself a Swedish immigrant to the United States, had received his Ph.D. from [[Yale University]] in the previous year and turned down a teaching position at Yale to assume the post at Upsala.<ref name="UpsalaCollPresidentialPapersatAC">[http://www.augustana.edu/general-information/swenson-center-/archives/finding-aids/upsala-college-records/presidential-papers- "Series I Presidential Papers"] in the [http://www.augustana.edu/general-information/swenson-center-/archives/finding-aids/upsala-college-records "Upsala College records, 1893-1995"] held in the collection of the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois). Retrieved 16 August 2013.</ref>
-The school was founded on the initiative of the [[Swedish-American]] [[Augustana Synod]] and immigrant Swedes, and received its name partly in reference to the historic [[Uppsala University|University of Uppsala]] in [[Sweden]] and partly in memory of the [[Uppsala Synod|Meeting of Uppsala]], which had taken place in 1593&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;exactly 300 years before the founding of the college&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;establishing [[Lutheran Orthodoxy]] in the country after the attempts of King [[John III of Sweden|John III]] to reintroduce Roman Catholic liturgy. (''Upsala'' is an archaic spelling variation of Uppsala, replaced in the early part of the 20th century by the version with two Ps, except in some proper nouns which have retained the old spelling.)
+Upsala received its name partly in reference to the historic [[Uppsala University|University of Uppsala]] in [[Sweden]] and partly in memory of the [[Uppsala Synod|Meeting of Uppsala]], which had taken place in 1593&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;exactly 300 years before the founding of the college&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;establishing [[Lutheran Orthodoxy]] in the country after the attempts of King [[John III of Sweden|John III]] to reintroduce Roman Catholic liturgy. (''Upsala'' is an archaic spelling variation of Uppsala, replaced in the early part of the 20th century by the version with two Ps, except in some proper nouns which have retained the old spelling.)
 The college originally opened in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]], [[New York]] and later moved to [[Kenilworth, New Jersey]] in 1898 before settling in East Orange in 1924.