“In War as in Peace, Culture for Service”: Sioux Falls College and the Successive Crises of Depression and War

Abstract

Through a detailed examination of archival records and official publications, this chapter analyzes the challenges experienced by Sioux Falls College (SFC) from roughly 1935–1945, when the Great Depression and World War II strained the college to the breaking point. SFC, a small liberal arts college within the Northern Baptist Convention, navigated repeated financial shortfalls, an ill-fated (and temporary) transition to junior college status, an increasingly problematic relationship with national Northern Baptist leadership, and the loss of nearly all male students during the Second World War. Ultimately, the college survived due to strong leadership and the economic boom times brought about by rising agricultural prices and the presence of the Sioux Falls Airbase.

The title is a take on the traditional motto of the college Culture for Service, and came from The Sioux Falls College Bulletin, vol. 33, no. 1, April 1942, 2.