Wednesday, October 29, 2014

San Jose City College (CA)

Dianna Escalante of The City College Times authored a historical sketch of San Jose City College posted October 28, 2014 that outlines the various moves and changes since the institution was founded in 1921. The name was changed to San Jose City College in 1958.


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Calvin College in Cleveland, OH

The ad above for Calvin College in Cleveland, OH can be found in the American College and Private School Directory, 1890.  The institution was affiliated with the Reformed Church in the United States and operated from 1863 until 1899.  Initially the language of instruction was German.  Robert P. Swierenga offers a historical sketch on his web site that first appeared in the Association for Advancement of Dutch American Studies Newsletter 2 (Spring 2002). 



Tuesday, October 14, 2014

The Common Fund and College Endowments...several documents of interst


Within the history of higher education there are relatively few books or essays devoted to college endowments.  I've stumbled across a couple, Stanley King's History of the Endowment of Amherst College and Philanthropy in the History of American Higher Education by Jesse Brundage Sears.  I find this interesting given the focus on money in so many conversations involving higher education that Roger L. Geiger summed up in his essay, "The Era of Multipurpose Colleges in American Higher Education" when he noted that "Colleges apparently had only vague notions about their likely income and expenditures.   Given good intentions and congenital optimism, college overspent virtually every year..."  

Three interesting resources are available on the Common Fund web site that help fill part of the void.


You can find A Common Vision: Working in Partnership for the Benefit of All 1971-1996.  A 1993 Commonfund publication, The Growth of College Endowments 1960-1990 is available and there is a study of a single institution in the Case History: The Spelman College Endowment.




Monday, October 13, 2014

United Methodist Institutions, 1784-1976


To Give the Key of Knowledge: United Methodists and Education, 1784-1976 includes a wealth of information and it is available as a .pdf file through ERIC.  The volume was published in 1976 by the National Commission on United Methodist Higher Education in Nashville, TN.  T. Michael Elliott, Diane Dillard, Renee Loeffler, and Kent M. Weeks were the authors.

The authors initially offered a historical sketch of Methodist involvement in higher education.  This is followed by chronological histories of institutions affiliated with the United Methodist Church.  There are also histories of institutions currently and formerly related to the Church and histories of institutions once related to the Methodist Church that were no longer operating at the time the book was written.

The appendix includes a timeline and several summary tables.  The merged data for colleges and universities follows:


Summary for the United Methodist Church (UMC)


1784 - 18281829 - 18601861 - 18991900 - 1976Totals
# Foundings:
Current UMC Colleges and Universities7578716167
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Currently Operating41820345
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Now Closed816914318338
# Closings
Current UMC Colleges and Universities- -- -- -- -- -
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Currently Operating- -- -- -- -- -
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Now Closed34320288336
# Disaffiliations
Current UMC Colleges and Universities- -- -- -- -- -
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Currently Operating0073037
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Now Closed05152040
# Mergers
Current UMC Colleges and Universities06154061
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Currently Operating01326
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Now Closed00112
# Remaining with UMC at End of Period
Current UMC Colleges and Universities759130170366
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Currently Operating42131056
Former UMC Colleges and Universities Now Closed5131710207

Friday, October 10, 2014

History of Chapel Hill College (MO)

Robert A. "Tony" O'Bryan-Lawson's masters thesis, "Chapel Hill, Missouri: Lost Visions of American's Vanguard on the Western Frontier 1820-1865," is available as a .pdf through the University of Missouri's MOspace.

O'Bryan-Lawson is an exceptional writer and weaves together material from a variety of sources to explore the life of slave holding society in a small Missouri town on the western frontier and the factors leading A. W. Ridings to found an institution at Chapel Hill that operated for four decades.

The author also notes that in addition to a number of notable alumni, the impact of Chapel Hill College can be traced through other institutions.  A.W. Ridings later moved to Warrensburg, MO and was instrumental in the founding of a normal school that evolved to become the University of Central Missouri.  Some of the Chapel Hill faculty went on to teach at McGee College.

Mater Ecclesiae College in RI Closing

The Providence Journal published an article on October 9, 2014 indicating that Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, Rhode Island will be closing.



Friday, October 3, 2014

Hostos Community College [Bronx, NY]

An article by David Gonzalez of The New York Times on September 28, 2014 covered a birthday reception honoring Ramon J. Jimenez for his efforts in the mid-1970's in support of Hostos Community College.  Jimenez and others organized successful opposition to a proposed merger of the institution.  Their efforts helped pave the way for Hostos to continue as a bilingual institution.

Eugenio MarĂ­a de Hostos Community College was founded in 1968 and is now part of The City University of New York (CUNY) system.  Hostos currently serves over 7,000 students.