F 9 Columbia and the "Jewish Problem”

1654	23 Sephardic Jews arrive in New Amsterdam from Brazil and take up permanent residence
1730	Shearith Israel synagogue opened on Mill Street, off Wall Street
1754	King’s College opened; no admission restrictions based on religion
1770	Isaac Abrahams matriculated at King’s College; graduated in 1774; became a doctor; the only identifiable Jew to attend King’s College
1770s	New York City had the largest community of Jews in the American colonies; most sided with the Patriots in the Revolution.
1785	The rabbi of Shearith Israel, Gershon Mendes Seixas, appointed to the Columbia College Regents by New York Legislature; remains as Trustee of the College until 1815; the only Jew to serve as a Columbia Trustee until 1928.
1837	Israel Moses matriculated at Columbia College, three years behind George Templeton Strong; graduated in 1841; became a doctor; his presence sufficiently novel attract Strong’s curioisity .
1`830s	A small Jewish “upper class” in existence, dating back to the Sephardic immigration of the 17^th C; includes the Cardozos, Seixases, Baruchs, Nathans and Lazaruses.
1855	Of NYC’s reported 225,000 religious observers, fewer than 5000 are Jews.
1870s-80s	Wealthy German-Jewish community in NYC establishes its presence in banking and philanthropy; leading families include the Schiffs, Seligmans, Loebs, Strauses, Warburgs, Lehmans, Guggenheims and Lewishons
1880s	First substantial migration of Russian and Polish Jews to America; most come to NYC;
1882	Nicholas Murray Butler’s 50-man College Class of 1882 contained two recognizably Jewish students (4%).
1885	Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman (CC 1879; PhD 1885) appointed to Faculty of Political Science; first Jew appointed to CU faculty; member of prominent NYC German-Jewish banking family
1891	Richard J.H. Gottheil (CC 1881; PhD 1886) appointed professor of Semitic Languages; Chair endowed by Temple Emanu-El, where Gottheil’s father was rabbi .
1892	Adolph Cohn, a French Jew with a temporary position on the Harvard faculty, appointed to the Columbia faculty with support of President Seth Low.
1896	Psychologist James McKeen Cattell notes “the large percentage of foreign parents, especially of fathers,” among Columbia undergraduates
1896	Franz Boas, a German-born and educated Jew, appointed Professor of Anthropology; becomes America’s leading anthroplogist
1900	John Erskine’s 97-man Class of 1900 had 6 recognizably Jewish students (6%)
1900	Edward Kasner (CCNY 1897; CU MA, 1897; PhD 1900) appointed Tutor on Mathematics Department; first Jew appointed to faculty position in sciences. The 4^th of Low’s 4 Jewish appointments.
1900	NYC contained 5% of US population; contained 45% of Jewish population (500,000 of total 3,400,000)
1900	3/4s of students enrolled at CCNY were Eastern European Jews; 40% of Hunter Students; but classes small
1900	President Seth Low supports idea to elect a Jew to the CU Board of Trustees; Jacob Schiff mentioned as possibility. No action taken by Board.
1900	Columbia College accepts College Entrance Examination Borad (CEEB) tests for admission, at Nicholas Murray Butler’s urging; other Ivies slower to do so.
1904	Parents of prospective Jewish students requested the College admission examination be given on other than a Saturday
1907	CCNY moved from 23^rd Street to 137^th, its present location
1907	Trustee Horace Carpentier called for the election of a Jew to the Columbia board; offered to give up his seat to make room.
1909	City College began an evening session; attracts graduates from the City’s 19 high schools
1910	Jewish population in NYC had doubled since 1900, to >1,000,000
1910
1911	President Butler and majority of Trustees reject useof St. Paul’s Chapel by non-Christian student organizations; Seth Low withdraws from
1913	After considerable discussion, Trustees reject idea of electing a Jew to the Board;; President Butler supports the decision
1916	Joseph Freeman entered CC from Boys High School; son of Russian Jews; described CC as “a gilded melting pot.” Spent 4^th year in Journalism School; Radical activist; encountered kindred spirits Frank Tannenbaum and Will Durant as part-time lecturers
1917	Dean of Columbia College Frederick P. Keppel on wartime leave; Herbert Hawkes as Acting Dean; Keppel not invited back in 1919; Hawkes made Dean
1917	Director of Admissions Adam Leroy Jones draws up selective criteria favoring non-Nyers and private school graduates that limited number of Jews accepted into College. Jones Director of Admissions until 1934.
1918	The jurist Benjamin Cardozo (CC 1889; CU Law ’91) suggested as prospect for election to Board of Trustees by Trustee Frederick Coudert. No action taken by the Board.
1918	Acting Dean of CC Herbert Hawkes later recalls that entering class was 40% Jewish; likely an exaggeration or war-time anomaly
1918	Wartime tests developed by TC psychologist E.L. Thorndike adopted for screening CC applicants for “mental alertness. Test thought to sift out the over-achieving “grind.”
1918	Medical School inaugurates selective admissions to cut Jewish numbers from current >50% of entering classes
1919	Personal interviews made part of the admissions process; means by which Jews of ”a desirable kind” distinguished from “less desirable.”
1921	Class of 1925 entering CC includes Lionel Trilling, Clifton Fadiman, Meyer Schapiro, among its Jewish students from NYC high schools
1922	Columbia College received 2200 applications to fill 550-man class; very difficult for NYC Jews to secure admission, when national clientele favored. CC Dean Hawkes defends policies that limit Jewish share of entering classes to be between 15% and 20%. Policies remain in force through the 1930s.
1920s	Limits placed on applicants intending to transfer to CU professional schools at first opportunity; hurt professionally oriented Jews and Italian Catholics; as high as 60% of some CC classes go directly to CU professional schools.
1920s	Barnard College assumed to be limiting admission of Jewish students much the same way as Columbia College.
1924	Columbia Medical School entering class about 20% Jewish; back to about 25% in 1930s
1927	Eli Ginzberg admitted to Columbia College; Class of 500 students; understood that admission of Jews from NYC high schools limited to 25
1928	CU Law School begins selective admission when enrollments exceed capacity of Kent Hall; 15-20% of law school enrolment from CCNY. A majority of CU Law students assumed to be Jewish.
1928	The federal jurist Benjamin Cardozp (CC 1889; CU Law 1891) elected to CU Board of Trustees; the first Jew to serve on board in 113 years.
1928	Columbia Trustees authorize the creation in Brooklyn of Seth Low Junior College. Designed for the borough’s children of immigrants; graduates not eligible to transfer to Columbia College.
1929	I. I. Rabi (Cornell 1920; CU PhD 1927) hired as Lecturer in Physics, upon return from two years of advanced study in Germany. Appointed assistant professor in 1930. Likely the first Jew hired by the Physics Department.
1930	Salo Baron (Vienna PhD, 1917) appointed Professor of Jewish History; chair endowed by Linda Miller, a member of Temple Emanu-El; Butler very involved in the selection process.
Early 1930s	Admissions Director Frank Bowles estimated that 1 in 7 Jewish applicants to the College admitted; closer to 1 in 2 overall.
1931	Journalist Heywood Broun characterizes President Butler, along with Harvard President Lowell, “the leaders of the movement for educational restriction of Jews.”
1932	The prospect of Adolph Ochs, the publisher of The New York Times, beimg elected to the Board of Trustees, upon resignation of Benjamin Cardozo, thwarted by Board opposition and by Nicholas Murray Butler.
1934	Entering Class of 572 Freshmen: 58% Protestant (50% from NYC/St) 25% Catholic (62% from NYC/St) 17% Jews (87% from NYC/St)
1936	Lionel Trilling, an Instructor in English Department, informed that his appointment was to be terminated; anti-Semitism of the Department viewed as a factor; intervention of President Butler secures his promotion to assistant professor.
1939	NMB dinner honoring publication of Trilling’s book on Matthew Arnold signals President’s intention that Trilling be made a permanent member of the English Departemnt.
1944	Arthur Hays Sulzberger (Journalism 1919) elected a Life Trustee of Columbia University; first Jew on Board since Cardozo resignation in 1932.
1946	American Jewish Congress charged Columbia with admissions discrimination; suit threatened CU’s tax-exempt status.
1947	Anti-discrimination legislation considered by NY legislature; opposed by both CU and Catholic Church
1948	Fair Education Practices Act passed at Governor Thomas Dewey’s urging; allowed for selective admission, but not on religious grounds. Legislative session also brings into existence the current SUNY system of state-supported universities and colleges.
1960s	Columbia faculty likely more than 1/3^rd Jewish in religious background.
1967	24-Member Board of Trustees contains at least 7 Jewish members; include some with familial links to the post-1880s migration of Russian and Polish Jews to NYC.
1968	Substantial numbers of the student-protest leadership were Jewish, but no religious issues figure prominently in the disruptions of campus life.
1980	Michael I. Sovern elected the 17^th president of Columbia; first Jew to serve in that office.
1990s	Jewish members of the Board of Trustees regularly elected to position of Chair
2002	Columbia’s Robert Kraft Center for Jewish Life opened on 114^th Street