States to admit men and women on an equal basis. In 1856, future U.S. president Abraham Lincoln spoke on campus. Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. president, graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and maintained a close connection with the college throughout his life; it is home to the Ronald Reagan Museum and Peace Garden.
== History ==
The college was founded in 1848 by a group of abolitionists who had left Kentucky because of their opposition to slavery and was originally named the Walnut Grove Academy. It was chartered in 1855.
When the school was founded, it was the first school in Illinois (and only the third in the United States) to educate women on an equal basis with men. In 1856, Abraham Lincoln spoke on campus, making Eureka one of only three colleges where Lincoln spoke. Abingdon College merged with Eureka in 1885.
In 2010, Eureka College was designated as a national historic district by the National Park Service.
On March 27, 2009, the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, visited the …
