Fred E. Brengle
Indiana State Normal School
Indiana State Teachers College
1927-1957

Having given thirty years of
academic service to the Indiana
State Teachers
College, Professor Fred E. Brengle set a prime
example for others of his generation interested in the lifelong pursuit of
education. The high standard he set through
his years of service to the field of social studies education in the state of Indiana is certainly
worthy of review, and continues to remind today’s students of just what it
means to be a lifetime learner and a professional educator devoted to the field
of history.
Fred Brengle is said to have had
a reserved demeanor, attributable to his humble Hoosier roots. Born on May 3, 1889 in Livonia,
Indiana to Jacob G. and Susan W. (Duncan) Brengle, Fred was raised in a preacher’s household
in a small Indiana
farming town. There he developed his
strong work ethic and austere personality while working on various farms and at
odd jobs around Livonia
after the harvests. It was also during
these times that Fred is said to have developed a dignified character and a
sense of noble maturity.
He received his basic education
at elementary schools in Orleans, Heltonville,
and Westport, all in Indiana,
later pursuing college preparatory work at Central Normal in Danville, Indiana
in 1914. He went on to attend several colleges and universities, including Indiana University,
the University of Chicago, and Harvard University.
Brengle’s first major educational achievement
was an A.B. degree from Indiana
University in 1916,
majoring in the field of History. In
1922 he completed his Master’s requirements at Chicago,
and subsequently attended Harvard
University for one year
of doctoral study. He later finished his
Ph.D. at Indiana University in 1929, focusing his
research on the history of the Progressive Party and its relationships to Theodore
Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
While at these various institutions,
Brengle greatly enjoyed working with campus newspapers, even serving as head
editor at the University
of Chicago and at IU. He was also a debater, a member of the band,
and president of the senior class at IU, a distinction that earned him multiple
scholarship nominations. The lessons
learned while growing up in a small Hoosier farming town clearly paid
substantial dividends as he commenced his career in higher education.
Brengle held a variety of
teaching posts throughout his career, dating back to 1908 when he was a grade
school teacher at Deer Creek. It was
during this time that he met his future wife, Elsie Marie Leak; the couple was
married in 1916 in Lizton, Indiana, shortly after he had finished his
Bachelor’s degree. A year later he
became the principal at Deer Creek High School,
but accepted a transfer back to the classroom at Elwood High School
in 1918. There he would broaden his professional development for a few years by
writing for the local newspaper. After
completing his Master’s degree in Chicago in 1922,
he decided to teach at Central Normal College
in Danville, Illinois. During several of these summers he worked with
Eli Lilly in the chemical department and Hunter Furniture Factory in the
veneering department. In 1927 he hired on at Indiana State
Teachers College as a professor
of History, eventually becoming the department Head in 1932. In 1952 he became Chairman of the Department
of Social Studies, a post which he would retain until his retirement in 1957.
In addition to his educational
accomplishments, Brengle also held memberships in various community, honorary,
and social organizations. These included the Pi Gamma Mu and Kappa Delta Pi
honor societies, the Mississippi Valley Historical Society, the Terre Haute
Literary Club, and the Terre Haute Library Club, of which he was secretary
(1946), vice-president (1947), and president (1948). He was also a member of the Army National
Guard Band based in Fort Harrison and Valparaiso.
After leading a life defined by motivation,
determination, and a drive toward self-improvement, Brengle left behind him a
sterling legacy with nearly fifty years in the field of education. Upon his death in 1963 at the age of
seventy-three, he bequeathed $7120.33 (equivalent to 28% of his estate) to
Indiana State College. He was survived
by his wife, Elsie, who followed him in death less than two years later. For many years to come, Brengle’s friends and
family remembered him for his response to the question of what he did with
himself after he retired. In
traditional, low-key fashion he replied: “I live with my wife and dog on the
side of a hill surrounded by twenty acres of timber. And I like it.”
Jacob Magill
2007
References
University Archives, Indiana State University.
An Introduction of Dr. F.E. Brengle (June 29, 1949). Indiana
State Teachers
College. Faculty Records Division. University Archives. Indiana
State University,
Terre Haute, Indiana.
Office of Information Services, Indiana State
University (1966).
Photograph from University Archives, Indiana State
University, Terre Haute, Indiana.
Vigo County
Public Library Community Archives, Terre
Haute, Indiana.
www.epodunk.com, with particular regard to earlier
childhood information.