of higher education founded in California, and is the second founded by the Adventist Church, the first west of the Mississippi River.
Sidney Brownsberger served as its first President. Under his term, the academy focused on both conventional study of standard subjects as well as practical skills, such as dressmaking, blacksmithing, carpentry, and cooking, in line with White's desire for the college. The lengthy tenure of William C. Grainger saw the heyday of the Academy's early years, but with the turn of the century, poor financial management led to increasing debt that eventually forced the academy to close in July 1908.
=== Move to Angwin (1909–1921) ===
Despite this failure, many church leaders – including White herself – continued to push for expanded Adventist schooling, and efforts were begun in the 1900s to find a new location to rebuild the college. Many sites were scouted out in the Central Valley and elsewhere within the state, but none came to the satisfaction of the searchers.
Eventually, in …
