EarlyCCTimeline
1783 November 23 -- British evacuate New York City following signing of Peace of Paris; prominent among American negotiators was John Jay (KC 1764) 1784 January -- New York's Governor George Clinton calls upon state legislature and citizenry for a "revival and encouragement of seminaries of learning" March 24 -- "Petition of Governors of King's College" submitted by 4 ex- King's College governors and 9 state officials, whose positions would have made them Governors of King's College, to reopen the College; New York City Mayor James Duane as prime mover May 1 -- New York Legislature passes "An act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called King's College, for altering the name and charter thereof, and erecting a University in this state"; College to be called "Columbia College in the State of new York" and to be governed by 32 Regents, appointed by governor and drawn statewide; charter made no mention of earlier Trinity Church stipulations about the president being Anglican/Episcopalian and Anglican/Episcopalian prayers May 4 -- First meeting of Regents lacked quorum; attendance problems chronic with non-NYC membersMay 5 -- Regents hold first meeting; Governor George Clinton elected Chancellor of the University; appoint Reverend John Peter Tetard as Professor of French; William Cochran appointed instructor of Greek and Latin; dispatch Colonel Matthew Clarkson to France and Holland to raise funds for the College; renew leases on College-owned properties May 17 -- Governor's15-year old son, DeWitt Clinton, admitted as junior transfer from Princeton; 7 other juniors admitted during summer and assigned to William Cochran, head of a grammar school, for interim instruction November 26 -- Regents' membership expanded to include 20 more NYC residents; Alexander Hamilton among the new Regents; Legislature also provided College with £ 2552 for its use. November 30 -- Regents abandon solicitation effort in France and Holland at Benjamin Franklin's insistence: Princeton and Dartmouth had already tried and failed December 14 -- Regents recommend creation of 7 regular professorships; 8 medical professorships; 2 law professorships; and 10 "extra professorships"; 4 salaried professorships filled by William Cochran (Latin), Rev. Benjamin Moore (Rhetoric); Rev. John D. Gross (Geography); Samuel Bard (Natural Philosophy) 1786 February 28 -- Professor Tetard declared insane and removed from faculty April 11 -- DeWitt Clinton, son of Governor Clinton, among 8 graduates at first commencement of Columbia College [ 32nd year from 1754]; ceremony held at St. Paul's Chapel 1787 April 13 -- NY Legislature approves new charter for "Columbia College in the City of New York," by which the College reverted to its earlier status as a privately governed college serving New York City; state-appointed Regents replaced by self-perpetuating 24 Trustees with no ex officio public members; charter provided basic governance framework that has since prevailed. May 21 -- William Samuel Johnson, elder son of first KC President Samuel Johnson, attorney, and a signer of Federal Constitution, elected 3rd president of King's/ Columbia College; accepted position in November; Columbia's first lay president and one of the first lay presidents in American higher education. May 21 -- Five seniors awarded graduation certificates at 33rd Commencement 1788 April 8 -- President Johnson confers degrees on 4 graduating seniors at 34th Commencement ; also confers degrees retroactively upon 1785 and 1786 graduates 1789 April 13 -- Peter Wilson elected Professor of Greek and Latin; succeeds the departed William Cochran May 6 -- Degrees conferred upon 10 graduating seniors at 35th Commencement in St. Paul's Chapel; as federal government installed in New York City earlier in the year, President George Washington, Vice President John Adams and members of the Cabinet were in attendance 1790 May -- Degrees conferred upon 7 graduating seniors at 36th Commencement July -- Following a compromise agreement worked out between Alexander Hamilton and James Madison/Thomas Jefferson, the national capital was moved from New York City to Philadelphia, where it was to remain until 1800, when a permanent site on the Potomac was ready for occupancy. 1791 May -- Degrees conferred upon 21 graduating seniors at 37th Commencement 1792 February 13 -- Trustees vote to create a Faculty of Medicine College uses infusion of state funds to undertake extension of College Hall and expand faculty May -- Degrees conferred upon 12 graduating seniors at 38th
Commencement 1793 State capital removed from New York City to Albany May -- Degrees conferred upon 26 graduating seniors and 4 graduates of the Medical School at 39th Commencement December -- James Kent appointed Professor of Law; his courses draw few students; resigned professorship in 1798 1794 May 7 -- Degrees conferred upon 15 graduating seniors and 3 graduates of the Medical School at 40th Commencement held in St. Paul's Chapel 1795 May -- Degrees conferred upon 26 graduating seniors and 2 graduates of the medical School at 41st Commencement Rev. John McKnight succeeds Gross as
Professor of Moral Philosophy 1796 May -- Degrees conferred upon 15 graduating seniors and 2 graduates of the medical school by President Johnson at 42nd Commencement Trustees authorize construction of a west wing to the Main Hall; shortly thereafter halted for want of funds 1797State announces end of its support of the College; faculty cut to two (Peter Wilson/John Kemp) May -- Degrees conferred upon 9 graduating seniors and 1 graduate of the medical school by President Johnson at 43rd Commencement 1798 May -- Degrees conferred upon 18 graduating seniors by President Johnson at 44th Commencement 1799 May -- Degrees conferred upon 18 graduating seniors by President Johnson at 45th Commencement Trustees establish new academic calendar: Commencement moved from May to late July; Exams in March and July; Vacation in August and September( to have College closed during epidemic season) 1800 July 16 -- Degrees conferred upon16 graduating seniors by President Johnson at 46th Commencement; the 73-year-old Johnson, hobbled by gout in the toe, resigned the presidency, left NYC and lived on in Connecticut until 1820. 1801 Dr. David Hosack, Columbia Professor of Botany and Materia Medica, purchased 20 acres of land 3 1/2 miles north of the settled part of Manhattan, for $4800, intending to develop it as a botanical garden. He named it the Elgin Botanical Garden. May 25 -- Trustees elected Rev. Charles
H. Wharton elected 4th president of Columbia; 1802 State legislature made grant of lands at Lake George, Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point jointly to Union College and Columbia; Union president Eliphalet Nott emerges as a formidable fundraiser among New York legislators College borrowing $20,000 to renew construction of west wing August 7 -- Degrees conferred upon 20 graduating seniors and 3 graduates of the medical school by President Moore at 48th Commencement at St Paul's The Philolexian Society established by Columbia students; the College's first literary society November 18 --Upon Mitchill's resignation, Dr.
James S. Stringham elected Professor of Chemistry; position unsalaried
bu Stringham to be paid by direct payments of $4 per year by all Juniors and Seniors. August -- Degrees conferred upon 18 graduating seniors and 2 graduates of the medical school by President Moore at 49th Commencement 1804 July 10 -- Alexander Hamilton shot and killed by political rival Aaron Burr (Princeton 1772) in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. July 14 -- Faculty and students of Columbia College attend funeral of Alexander Hamilton, the College's most famous alumnus. Hamilton's oldest son, Alexander, Jr., is a member of the Class of 1804; next oldest, James Alexander, Class of 1805. Gouverneur Morris (KC 1768) delivered the principal eulogy. August -- Degrees conferred upon 31 graduating seniors and 3 graduates of the medical school by President Moore at 50th Commencement 1805 College 20-year leases on property adjoining the College let in
1785 now up for renewal at five times their earlier rents; welcome source of
need income August -- Degrees conferred upon 20 graduating seniors and 1 graduate of the medical school by President Moore at 52nd Commencement The Peithologian Society created by Columbia students; the College's second literary society (Philolexian founded in 1802) 1807 College of Physicians & Surgeons opens in New York City, in direct competition with Columbia's medical school. 1808 February 1 -- Trustees appoint a committee chaired by Rufus King to inquire into "the present state of education in the College." Other Trustees on committee: The Revs. John Henry Hobart, John Mitchell Mason and Samuel Miller College faculty acknowledge regularly accepting 13-year old boys into the College despite minimum age set at 14; contended these admits were "among the best scholars" August -- Degrees conferred upon 22 graduating
seniors by President Moore at 54th Commencement 1809 August -- Degrees conferred upon 27 graduating seniors by President Moore at 55th Commencement 1810 February 28 -- Trustees published Report of King Committee March 23 -- 1787 College charter amended and reenacted; new curriculum
introduced August -- Dr. Hosack, unable to maintain his Garden despite expenditures of $110,000, sold the property to the State of New York for $74,000. August -- Degrees conferred upon 29 graduating seniors and 1 graduate of the medical school by President Moore at 56th Commencement; Disturbances by outsiders prompt College to request City block off streets around College at Commencement 1811March -- President Moore, long in failing health, resigned the presidency June 19 -- Rev. William Harris elected 6th president of Columbia (to1829); shared authority with Provost (and Presbyterian) John Mitchell Mason until 1816; both simultaneously ministering to churches August 5 -- College faculty recommend 24 seniors for graduation,
although 8 adjudged to be unqualified on the basis of their exam performance;
"special circumstances" cited in deciding to go ahead with granting the degrees 1812 Hamilton College founded in upstate Clinton; 3rd college chartered in New York State August -- Degrees conferred upon 23 graduating seniors by President Harris at 58th Commencement; Provost Mason introduced the awarding of class medals at Commencement as a spur to "emulation" among the underclassmen 1813 Columbia's medical school closed; remnant of the medical faculty merged with College of Physicians and Surgeons; Columbia to be without a medical affiliation until 1861, without its own medical school until 1891. August -- Degrees conferred upon 18 graduating seniors by President Harris at 59th Commencement 1814 April 13 -- NY State passed "An Act for the Promotion of Literature and other Purposes" by which Columbia acquired the 20-acre botanical garden it acquired in 1810 from the botanist David Hosack; its value at the time about $10,000; came to Columbia in lieu of the $200,000 received by Union College, $40,000 by Hamilton College, and $30,000 by The College of Physicians and Surgeons; use of the land specifically limited to future college site. August -- Degrees conferred upon 11 graduating seniors by President Harris at 60th Commencement, although 5 who received degrees deemed unqualified by faculty October 6 -- Students petitioned for permission to form a military company; Trustees declined to express an opinion. College's political sentiments preponderantly opposed to the ongoing War of 1812. 1815 August -- Degrees conferred upon 19 graduating seniors by President Harris at 61st Commencement 1816 May 6 -- Provost Mason resigns (later becomes president of Dickinson College); marks decline of Presbyterian influence on the Board; William Harris now becomes full-time president August -- Degrees conferred upon 17 graduating seniors by President Harris at 62nd Commencement October 16 -- Group of Columbia alumni request recognition by Trustees; marks establishment of first alumni organization of an American college November -- Trustee "Report on State of the College" prepared by Bishop John Henry Hobart; hard on faculty moonlighting 1817 January -- NY Governor Daniel Tompkins (CC 1795) proposes scheme where state would assist Columbia moving to Staten Island and merging with newly chartered Washington College March 27 -- Trustees reject relocation proposal; borrow $20,000 to undertake building-expansion program to construct east and west wings to main building August -- Degrees conferred upon 18 graduating seniors by President Harris at 63rd Commencement 1818 August -- Degrees conferred upon 18 graduating seniors by President Harris at 64th Commencement 1819 April 5 -- Governor DeWitt Clinton (CC 1786) and state legislature permit College to lease property ("Hosack's Garden" ) acquired in 1814 and drop requirement that it be a future college site; also make grant of $10,000 to College to compensate for land's poor returns to College. Trustees unhappy with this deal and over next three decades came close several times to selling the property. The Garden's 260 city lots ( six city blocks referred to as the "Upper Estates") later became the principal endowment of Columbia and a major revenue producer from the 1860s until sold in 1985 for $400,000,000; land is the site of Rockefeller Center. August -- Degrees conferred upon 19 graduating seniors by President Harris at 65th Commencement 1820 College experiences a surplus of $2000 in a $15,000 budget; completes expansion of main building; Trustees contemplate separating heretofore joined professorships August -- Degrees conferred upon 13 graduating seniors by President Harris at 66th Commencement 1821 Previous year's financial windfall erased as College generates deficit of $1600; first of several years of deficits July 21 -- Faculty places all 30 graduating seniors into 5 groups according to their academic performance in an experiment designed to encourage academic emulation among the students August 10 -- Degrees conferred upon 30 graduating seniors by President Harris at 67th Commencement; graduates receive their degrees in order of their academic grouping 1822 Second year of budgetary deficit; difficulties in collecting rents August -- Degrees conferred upon 23 graduating seniors by President Harris at 68th Commencement 1823 Third successive year of budgetary deficits August -- Degrees conferred upon 29
graduating seniors by President Harris at 69th Commencement; graduates receive their
degrees in the numerical order of their academic ranking by the faculty (i.e., 1 to
29), placing senior
George Ogden, son of a Trustee, # 29. October -- Chancellor James Kent returns to Columbia as Professor of Law; not part of regular faculty; unsalaried; lectures in 1824 and 1825 poorly attended; thereafter does no teaching though continued to be listed as member of the faculty 1824 Professor John McVickar called for some student choice in selecting courses; other faculty and trustees opposed; reform not adopted March 1 -- Trustee Thomas L. Ogden, father of George (CC 1823) and Waddington Ogden (CC 1824), protests rank ordering of graduating seniors at Commencement August -- Degrees conferred upon 23 graduating
seniors by President Harris at 70th Commencement; graduates receive their degrees in
the numerical order of their academic ranking by the faculty; yet another
Ogden, Waddington, #23 1825 College experiences first budgetary surplus ($662) in five years May 4 -- Clement Clark Moore [CC 1798], the son of President Benjamin Moore and Clerk of the Trustees, delivered an address to the Alumni of Columbia College on "The Early History of Columbia College," making him the first of Columbia's institutional historians August -- Degrees conferred upon 21 graduating seniors by President Harris at 71st Commencement; order of receiving degrees unclear 1826 Second year of budgetary surplus ($1320) February 6 -- Trustees petition state legislature for "pecuniary aid;" complain about the absence of any income from the Botanic Garden May 22 -- Senior Thomas Minturn expelled by faculty for being a leader of a senior class "combination" defying faculty authority; his appeal to Trustees effects his readmittance to class and timely graduation July 6 -- Trustees voted that graduating seniors not be ranked academically or have their degrees conferred accordingly; experiment with encouraging emulation abandoned August -- Degrees conferred upon 25 graduating seniors by President Harris at 72nd Commencement; seniors receive their degrees in alphabetical order September 4 -- Trustees agree to have freshmen seated by rank after intermediate exams 1827 August -- Degrees conferred upon 36 graduating seniors by President Harris at 73rd Commencement; largest graduating class in the history of the College; receive degrees by scholarly rank, with Hamilton Fish, son of Trustee Nicholas Fish, ranked #1 1828 May 6 -- Trustees sell upstate Crown Point land acquired from the state for $3213. August -- Degrees conferred upon 29 graduating seniors by President Harris at 74th Commencement; seniors receive degree in order of academic merit [John M. Ogden #28] 1829January -- Trustees authorize borrowing of $22,000 to build a grammar school across Murray Street from the College; eighteen-year old College junior John Ogilvie appointed Headmaster. August -- President Harris terminally ill; Professor McVickar presided at conferring of 20 degrees at 75th Commencement October 10 -- Trustees informed of Harris's death; McVickar named acting president December 1 -- Retiring state judge William A. Duer elected 7th president of Columbia (to 1842); Professor John McVickar a disappointed candidate for the office 1830 January 16 -- Trustees issue new statutes in anticipation of the establishment of the "University of the City of New York" (later, NYU), which aimed at attracting sons of the City's commercial middle class; Columbia curriculum revised to include Literary and Scientific (i.e., no classics) Course to appeal to same constituency. January 30 -- Trustees offering City of New York places on Board in exchange for gift of the old alms house; also invite scholarship support and endowment of professorships by City's various religious and ethnic groups February -- Trustees propose offering instruction in mathematics, astronomy, navigation and steam engines to cadets of US Navy March 3 -- Faculty abandon support of academic ranking; acknowledge it not done elsewhere. June 21 -- Seniors petition that "all distinction of place should be abolished;" ask to graduate in strict alphabetical order. August -- Degrees conferred on 19 graduating seniors by President Duer at 76th Commencement; degrees awarded in alphabetical order November -- Professor Charles Anthon installed as headmaster of Columbia Grammar School, located across Church Street from the College. 1831 April --University of the City of New York receives state charter. Backers of new college included several disaffected Columbians. August -- Degrees conferred upon 24 graduating seniors by President Duer at 77th Commencement; degrees awarded in alphabetical order, though individual medals awarded to top students in each of the classes 1832 October -- "New University" (NYU) opens for instruction in Clinton Hall, opposite City Hall Park from Columbia College; immediately draws some Columbia students as transfers December 3 -- Finances of the College show it again in deficit of $2000; long-term debt erxceeds $30,000 1833 January -- College running recurring deficits; debt mounting to $31,650 May 1 -- Professor Anthon takes Grammar School "into his own hands;" to pay the College a yearly rental and keep whatever profit there is after paying staff October 8 -- Degrees conferred upon 24 graduating seniors by President Duer at 79th Commencement; first commencement scheduled in early October at start of academic year 1834 October 6 -- Degrees conferred on 24 graduating seniors by President Duer at 80th Commencement in St. John's Chapel on Varick St. Graduates included Evert A. Duyckinck, later a well known author-publisher 1835 February 10 -- Trustees confront fact that "for the last twelve years the debt has been steadily increasing." Next year to be $35,000. Trustees reduce faculty salaries, but also offer them the tuition income on all enrolled students in excess of 100. Propose a fundraising campaign among alumni to raise $50,000. October 5 -- Columbia College sophomore George
Templeton Strong (CC 1838) commenced his diary; to continue until his death in 1875. 1836 1837 April 13 -- 50th anniversary of the reorganization of the College
celebrated by students and alumni
in parade from College to St. John's Chapel. October 2-- Degrees conferred on 20 graduating seniors by President Duer at 84th Commencement; among the medal-winning graduates was the diarist George Templeton Strong 1839 October -- Degrees conferred on 25 graduating seniors by President Duer at 85th Commencement 1840 October -- Degrees conferred on 32 graduating seniors by President Duer at 86th Commencement 1841 Fordham University founded under Roman Catholic auspices in New York City. 1842 May 2 -- President Duer resigns; provided a $1200 lifetime annuity June -- Trustees unable to settle on a successor to President Duer; Professor McVickar among the candidates August 2 -- Nathaniel Fish Moore (CC
1802/nephew of Benjamin Moore) elected 8th president of Columbia (to 1849);
became compromise candidate at urging of his cousin, Clement Clark
Moore, clerk of the Trustees 1843 April -- Columbia received its first bequest for an endowed chair
-- in German -- from estate of Frederick
Gebhard; bequest of $20,000; largest received until 1889; Johann
Tellkampf appointed 1st Gebhard Professor 1844 October -- Degrees conferred upon 14 graduating seniors by President Moore at 90th Commencement 1845 October -- Degrees conferred upon 24 graduating seniors by President Moore at 91st Commencement 1846 October -- Degrees conferred upon 24 graduating seniors by President Moore at 92nd Commencement 1847 October -- Degrees conferred upon 28 graduating seniors by President Moore at 93rd Commencement 1848 July (changed from previous October date) -- Degrees conferred upon 25 graduating seniors by President Moore at 94th Commencement 1849 October [moved because of Cholera threat]-- President Moore
resigned as president; degrees conferred upon 32 graduating seniors at 95th
Commencement University of Rochester founded in western NY; becomes the state's ninth college June -- Proposal for having alumni elect three of
the College's 24 trustees rejected
by Trustees 1851 July -- Degrees conferred upon 21 graduating seniors by President
King at 97th Commencement April -- Trustees begin leasing "Upper Estate" in
202 separate parcels for twenty-one years; 1853 July -- Degrees conferred upon 19 graduating seniors by President King at 99th Commencement November 7 -- Committee of Trustees urges move uptown 1854 January to April -- Trustees fallout over appointing Columbia graduate Wolcott Gibbs (CC 1841) as professor of chemistry; clergy on Trustees opposed candidacy because of his Unitarianism; trustee supporters Samuel Ruggles and George Templeton Strong seek alumni support for their case; compromise candidate Richard McCulloch, a professor at Princeton, chosen for post; Gibbs went on to a distinguished career at Harvard. [For more, follow link to "The Gibbs Affair"] July -- Degrees conferred upon 29 graduating seniors by President King at 100th Commencement October 30 -- Modest alumni dinner in recognition of Centennial
of issuing the charter for King's College; bigger turnout precluded by
alumni-trustee controversy over the Gibbs affair July -- Degrees conferred upon 19 graduating seniors by President King at 101st Commencement 1856 October -- Degrees conferred upon 45 graduating seniors by President King at 102nd Commencement; the largest graduating class to date and the last to graduate from the Park Place campus 1857January -- Trustees sell College site on Park Place for $600,000; retain rental properties around the original campus (hereinafter "The Lower Estate") May -- Columbia College moved from original site on Park Place to
grounds of the New York Institution of Deaf and Dumb on Madison and 49th St; College Hall
promptly demolished; site now contains the Internal Revenue Service
Building Robert A. McCaughey |
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