Henry Reck was born near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on August 24, 1829. He was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1852 and served two congregations and two orphanages until he was called to teach at Augustana College in Paxton, Illinois, in 1871.
Reck became head of the department of natural philosophy and offered Augustana’s first science class the same year. He also taught philosophy and English, officially adding the title of professor of English in 1878.
In 1872, Reck, as chairman of the search committee looking for a new location for Augustana College, found the current land in Rock Island, Illinois. He was appointed vice president of the college in 1875.
Reck died on his father’s farm in Pennsylvania on October 27, 1881. He was survived by a wife, Anna R. Merring, and five children: William, Samuel, Warren, Ernest, and Marion. |
The Henry Reck notebook is undated and measures 0.75 linear inches. It contains lecture notes dealing with apologetics, Bible study, and theology in general; these notes appear to be from his time at Gettysburg Seminary. As the collection consists of one bound notebook, it is represented in a single series. Most of the content is in the first 50 pages, though notes on the anxious bench, clerical politics, and religious education appear after a gap. |
