Oklahoma Wesleyan University

a.k.a. Western Pilgrim College 1932-1960

On Labor Day, 1932, plans were made for the establishment of the Holiness Evangelistic Institute by the Holiness Church in California in the face of financial depression. At a meeting in the Holiness Church Mission on Towne Avenue in Los Angeles, plans were made for the opening of the Institute on October 10, 1932. Rev. James R. Adams is credited as being the most significant leader in founding the institution and became the first acting president, until Rev. Ray Carter was officially appointed as the first president.

The purposes for the founding of the institution were to train ministers for work in the denomination, to provide for full-time Christian training, such as missionaries, and provide liberal arts courses to support and supplement the Christian work emphasis.

Although the Holiness campgrounds and area homes were used as a campus during the early years, the historical collector’s print shows the Administrative building during the 1950’s which became the focal point of the campus.

In 1947, the Pilgrim Bible College from Pasadena merged with the Holiness Evangelistic Institute on the El Monte campus. In 1960, the campus moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where it merged with Central Pilgrim College. In 1969, due to a denominational merger, it became known as Bartlesville Wesleyan College. The Oklahoma campus is now known as Oklahoma Wesleyan University.