My first impression of Ashland College when visiting in the late 1970s was, “There are eagle statues around the campus.” Once here, as a historian, I wanted to learn the story of these eagles, but it quickly became obvious that few people knew how they came to roost here—or, more importantly, who was involved. It took awhile to gather the information and disseminate it in a short history (“The Eagles of Ashland”). This led to admissions undertaking the task of seeing that each eagle had a name plate. It also revived the tradition of perching an eagle in front of new (or, in a few instances, existing) buildings. While the original eagles were “liberated” from their previous homes, the newer additions all arrived legally. It is a fascinating and continuing story that deserves more attention than it receives.
