ALBION COLLEGE STUDENT ARMY TRAINING CORPS

One hundred years ago (1918) the U.S. was in the midst of fighting in World War I. Albion’s men answered the call to duty and enlisted in droves into the armed forces to serve their country. The War also affected Albion College, which saw many of its male students withdraw and join the branch of service of their choice, rather than being drafted. Those students who remained were required to take part in military drills on campus as part of their course work. Military drills began in 1917.

The Student Army Training Corps (SATC) was subsequently formed in 1918. The College worked with the U.S. War Department which approved a program designed to enlist students into the service, train them for active duty, and identify and train future officers.

Several Albion College buildings were transformed into an army military base. The Epworth Physical Laboratory was the headquarters; the Old North Building was turned into a barracks as was the Sigma Chi house, while the North Hall served as a business headquarters. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) building on E. Erie St. served as the Mess Hall. Robinson Hall was designated as the camp infirmary and saw unexpected use: The deadly Spanish influenza epidemic struck here in October, 1918. Over a hundred of the 250 SATC members were afflicted and treated at Robinson Hall. Several dozen Albion town residents died of that flu in the months to come.

Students were required to take two hours of military training each day, plus a "war course"class. The first fifteen SATC students were shipped to the Central Infantry Officer’s Training Camp at Rockford, Illinois on November 15, 1918. With the end of the War occurring that same month however, the SATC members were discharged in the following weeks and the last man left on December 15. Thus ended the SATC and military training at Albion College until March, 1943 when Army Air Force Cadet training began during World War II.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present Albion College SATC soldiers marching on the main campus of Albion College in 1918, with the Epworth headquarters building in the distance. How many of our readers had ancestors who served in World War I?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com