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Luther College is a private coeducational liberal arts college located in Decorah, Iowa, United States. Established as a Lutheran seminary in 1861 by Norwegian immigrants, the school is today an institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, enrolling about 2,385 students.〔http://www.luther.edu/ir/assets/luther_college_enrollments__2009_2013__20130917__CENSUS_.pdf〕 ==History== On October 10, 1857, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church created a college to supply ministers for Norwegian congregations in the Upper Midwest. Until the college was established in 1861, students studied at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. On October 14, 1859, the Rev. Peter Laurentius Larsen was appointed professor to the Norwegian students at Concordia by the NELC. Upon the closing of the seminary in April 1861, at the start of the Civil War, the NELC decided to open its own college that fall in a former parsonage at Halfway Creek, Wisconsin, just north of La Crosse, Wisconsin and close to present day Holmen, Wisconsin. On September 1, 1861, classes officially began with an enrollment of 16. The following year classes moved to Decorah, Iowa, with NELC Pastor Ulrik Vilhelm Koren successfully arranging the college's relocation and permanent settlement. In 1866, a group of students signed a "bill of rights" criticizing the rigid schedule, the rules about going downtown, the lack of windows in some of the sleeping rooms, and the wood cutting and shoe shining chores, concluding that "there was not enough freedom". The leader, 18-year-old Rasmus Anderson was expelled.〔 This event was viewed as a rebellion and "the worse of sins" by the pastors assembled in a pastoral conference shortly after.〔 In 1905, Dr. Carlo A. Sperati, an 1888 graduate of Luther, became the music director of the college and developed the Luther College Concert Band, founded in 1878, on the model of the wind ensemble pioneered by John Philip Sousa. Under Sperati, the band undertook several tours of Europe, their first in 1914, earning international acclaim for their musical talent. Sperati remained on the faculty until his death in 1945. In 1932, Luther College dropped its mandatory study of the classics and embraced the modern concept of the liberal arts education. Due to financial constraints associated with the Great Depression, the college decided to admit women to the student body in 1936. During the 1960s Luther constructed several new campus buildings and adopted a 4-1-4 semester schedule. In 1964, Luther's museum collection became separate from the college and was established as the Norwegian-American Museum. Now known as Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, it is the largest and most comprehensive museum in the United States devoted to a single immigrant group. Nordic Fest, started in 1967, grew from Luther College Women’s Club annual celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Luther College (Iowa)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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