The Nebraska War of the Roses: The Conflict in Founding a Methodist University

Abstract

In 1886 Methodist clergy met in Lincoln, Nebraska, to create a new institution—Nebraska Wesleyan University, the third by that name to have been started in the state. But the unification plan did not bring unity, financial stability, or peace to Nebraska Methodists. With the addition of Nebraska Wesleyan, there were now four struggling underfunded colleges, and ongoing rivalry and hostility continued unabated between communities, churches, and potential donors. During the economic depression of the 1890s, meager support and an embezzlement scandal acerbated Nebraska Wesleyan's financial woes, and the institution came to the brink of closing in 1898. It survived, however, and became a successful small liberal arts college in the twentieth century.