west and remain until his railroad was
completed. So great was the problem that Rose decided there should
be proper opportunities in the new west for young men wanting to
study engineering.
With that in mind, a corporation forming the Terre Haute
School of Industrial Science was signed on September 10, 1874.
Local business leaders changed the name four months later to Rose
Polytechnic Institute over Rose's protests.
While many men seek in life to perpetuate their good name
in stone, Chauncey Rose preferred to do his giving quietly. It was
said of him by one, "… so retiring was his disposition that he
always avoided any open acknowledgment of his generosity." His
charity would total roughly $3 million, with Rose-Hulman being
among the chief beneficiaries of his wealth.
The Hulman family of Terre Haute carried on Rose's legacy
into the next century as the burgeoning campus had outgrown its
original downtown location. The family's 123-acre farm on the east
side of the growing city was donated in 1917. Five years later,
construction of a new campus began on the property, and the
cornerstone of the 80,600-square-foot main classroom building (now
Moench Hall) was laid on September 13, 1922.
The Hulman family's generosity continued generations later
as Anton |
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Hulman Jr. and his wife, Mary Fendrich Hulman, turned over the
assets of their foundation, worth in excess of $11 million, in
1971. The wealth resulted from their respective family's successful
businesses: the Hulman food processing and distribution business,
the Fendrich cigar manufacturing business and the family's
ownership of the Indianapolis |
Motor Speedway. The college was renamed to acknowledge the Hulman
family's many contributions.
Rose-Hulman's student union building was named in honor of
Anton and Mary Hulman. Their daughter, Mari Hulman George, is an
emerita member of the Board of Trustees. Grandson Anton Hulman
George is a trustee.
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