Scholar, reformer, and advocate for women's equal education, Sarah Parke Morrison was born near here in 1833. Responding to a petition from Morrison, Indiana University narrowly voted to begin accepting women on equal terms as men in 1867. Although she was already a college graduate and teacher, Morrison enrolled at IU and became its first female graduate in 1869. As Adjunct Professor of English, Morrison became the first female IU faculty member in 1874. She advocated for equal representation of women as IU faculty and administrators. Morrison spoke widely for the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Society of Friends. She continued her studies at IU and authored several books and poems before her death in 1919.