The Campus as a Pedagogical Agent

Herman B Wells, Cultural Entrepreneurship, and the Benton Murals

JAMES H. CAPSHEW

The visionary educator Herman B Wells indelibly transformed Indiana University in his service as President (1937–62) and University Chancellor (1962–2000). Under his leadership, the university grew from a provincial hub into a cosmopolitan center of learning with an international reputation. Shrewd, charming, and energetic, Wells possessed an immense social network and ample sound judgment to find and create opportunities to improve the fortunes of IU. People were his passion, and he cultivated contacts with all members of the university community as well as with many groups beyond the campus. Although he strengthened the university's focus on research and advanced training, he made an extraordinary effort to cultivate the arts as well. Wells's unwavering commitment to academic freedom was put to the test by his protection of Alfred Kinsey's controversial research on sex, and he set into motion the expansion of international academic programs of many kinds.	1
IU Auditorium, 1941. Home to the Benton Murals and centerpiece of Herman B Wells's vision for a new Fine Arts Plaza, the Auditorium stands as a monument and living legacy to both men. Courtesy IU Archives
Wells understood that learning took place whenever and wherever consciousness existed, and he was devoted to building a creative and nurturing environment for the entire IU family. His vision reflected his belief that, in addition to the intangibilities of morale and spirit, the campus landscape—"our precious islands of green and serenity"—played an important role "in their ability to inspire students to dream long dreams of future usefulness and achievement."1 Every aspect of the physical campus, from its woodland landscape and limestone architecture to its and tasteful interior furnishings, could play a dynamic role in education and learning.	2
But that vision did not spring into action fully formed when Wells became the eleventh president of IU beginning in 1937. Rather it developed over time, pieced together from his family background and life experiences, combined with on-the-job training. A 1924 IU alumnus, Wells had joined the faculty as an instructor in economics in 1930, was promoted to assistant professor in 1933, and then was named Dean of the School of Business Administration in 1935, at the age of 33. Two years later, he became Acting President.	3
One of the acknowledged early triumphs of the Wells administration was the acquisition of Thomas Hart Benton's Indiana Murals and their placement in the new Auditorium, dedicated in 1941. What tends to be forgotten is the controversy surrounding the murals, originally created for the Chicago Century of Progress International Exposition in 1933. Depicting the industrial and cultural history of Indiana, Benton used an exaggerated representational style of individuals and events that some thought unbecoming to Hoosiers and their state. Commissioned and owned by the State of Indiana, the paintings became a white elephant after the fair closed at the end of October. The gigantic canvases were taken down, crated, and transported to the State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. There they were stored in the Manufacturers' Building, the only structure with doors large enough to accommodate the eighteen-foot packages, which weighed a total of six tons. And there the crates sat for over five years.	. . .