In 1850 this area, called the Glade, was a community of scattered farms with a racetrack and citizens sympathetic to emancipation. In 1853, rich and politically ambitious Cassius M. Clay gave Reverend John G. Fee a free tract of land in the Glade, where with local supporters and other abolitionist missionaries from the American Missionary Association, Fee established a church, Berea College, and a tiny village. Fee named Berea after a biblical town where the people “received the Word with all readiness of mind.” Founded in 1855, Berea College became the only integrated college in the South for nearly forty years. During the Civil War, John G. Fee preached to and taught thousands of slave men who had volunteered for the Union Army. After the War, African American families came to Berea to join in the beginnings of this rich Black history.

In the 1890’s, there was a growing national interest in the culture and traditions of Appalachia by writers, academics, missionaries, and teachers. Fascinated by the rich culture and dismayed by the isolation and poverty, college donors were excited by the traditional coverlets brought by students in exchange for tuition, which College President William Frost took on his fund raising trips North. Frost, perceiving a national market for traditional crafts, established the first Berea College Fireside Industries. Frost encouraged people to move to Berea, and the college built a loom house and hired a supervisor to train and maintain the quality of student work.

Today, Berea College provides a full-tuition scholarship to every student, admits only low-income students, and requires all students to work in a college job. In addition to carrying a full academic load, students work 10-15 hours per week, which permits them to earn a portion of their educational expenses. Founded with a commitment of educating black and white students together, today the college has students from more than 60 countries and many faiths and is continually ranked as one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the nation.