# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1911_S250
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 36 —

were asked to deliberate and vote on whether an institution of our own should be founded in our district, and then, how many students could be registered for entrance to such an institution as might be founded.

The result of the congregations' vote was that an institution of the Oregon and Washington District should be brought into being in September 1905. It was further resolved that, from the outset, a teacher of its own — a professor — should be called for the institution.

On Sunday, September 10, 1905, by God's grace the called professor could be installed in a solemn worship service at the Trinity congregation in Portland, and the institution was opened on Monday, September 11, with 17 students.

For two years the students were housed in a private home, and instruction was given in the old schoolroom of the Trinity congregation in Portland. It then became apparent, however, that the space for the students had grown too small and that thought must be given to acquiring a lot of its own and erecting a suitable building on it. This was accordingly resolved at the synodical conventions in the years 1906 and 1907. It was also determined by resolution that the name of this institution should be "Ev. Luth. Concordia College at Portland, Oreg.," and that the district should take over this institution as its own. (Report 1906, p. 53 ff.; 1907, p. 77.)

The district now possesses a fine property that fully meets the requirements for such an institution, as all who have seen it to date have always attested, and of which the "Lutheraner" (No. 20, 1910, p. 319) says: "Our institution was opened in 1905, and so this year begins its sixth school year. It now has a very beautifully situated site, about ¾ mile from the Columbia River, within the city limits and two blocks from the streetcar line. The lot is about 5½ acres in size. In front it has a finished street with a cement sidewalk. It lies in the midst of a beautiful pine forest and in an extremely healthy location. In front of the building is a fine, large lawn with spruces, cedars, and other trees. Behind the building is a fine, large garden that saves the college kitchen several hundred dollars a year; behind that is a spacious playground. The building is extremely plain, but, as visitors always say, well suited to its purpose. It offers room enough for the domestic staff (maids and a hired man) and 25 students. The rooms and halls are high-ceilinged and bright. Ample provision has thus been made for air and light. It is heated by a double furnace. The whole property is now probably worth about $20,000.00. The expenses for the institution have for the most part — indeed almost entirely — been borne by the Oregon and Washington District. And these expenses have not been in vain.