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Sesquicentennial. It's not a word that is bandied about too often, but get ready to hear it virtually on a daily basis. The repetition will make picking up the spelling and pronunciation that much easier. As the College's 150th anniversary approaches, Vassar's history, though already reflected in so many aspects of life at the College, will be celebrated and studied with renewed zeal. Get ahead before even arriving by picking up some of the basics of Vassar's history with this timeline of main events, Vassar characters, and exciting trivia.
This timeline is by no means encyclopedic; in fact, it barely skims the surface. For even more in Vassar's history and a greater depth, check out the Vassar College Encyclopedia online organized by the College Historian, go to Special Collections for materials about Vassar or find a book or two about the College.
April 29, 1792: Matthew Vassar is born in Norfolk County, England to James Vassar and Anne Bennett. Today students celebrate Vassar's birthday on Founder's Day, which is planned on a Saturday close to this date. Vassar's family moved to Dutchess County, New York just a few years later seeking religious freedom. James Vassar opened a brewery in 1801.
1811: Matthew Vassar begins a brewery after the original brewery is destroyed by a devastating fire. Over the next 50 years Vassar's brewery will flourish, and Vassar will become both a wealthy man and a leader in Poughkeepsie.
Jan. 18, 1861: New York State Legislature votes on and approves "An Act to Incorporate Vassar Female College," thereby giving Matthew Vassar the charter that he needs to create his college. He holds the first Board of Trustees, including himself; his nephews, Matthew Vassar, Jr. and John Guy Vassar; Samuel F.B. Morse, painter and inventor of the Telegraph; Elias Magoon, a Baptist minister who sold his collection of art to Vassar thus beginning the College's own impressive collection; and future president of the College John H. Raymond. At the meeting, the Board elects Milo P. Jewett, another trustee, to be the first president of the College. Jewett's beliefs and ideas regarding women's education as well as his experience as an educator were invaluable to Matthew Vassar in the founding of the College. However, the two disagreed on an appropriate opening date. Jewett wrote a letter, which he sent to five trustees in which he called Vassar "childish and fickle." Vassar was shown the letter, and Jewett resigned in 1864 before the first students entered the College.
April, 1864: Jewett resigns as President. John Howard Raymond becomes the second president of the College. Raymond is credited with establishing the College's curriculum, which went beyond traditional feminine education to include areas of study previously deemed suitable for only men, including mathematics and the sciences.
Summer, 1865: The observatory, now the Maria Mitchell Observatory, is the first building completed on campus. Maria Mitchell moves into the building along with her father and begins teaching astronomy when the first students arrive in the fall of the same year. Mitchell was already renowned for her discovery of the first telescopic comet, which led to her receipt of an award from the King of Denmark. Today the Observatory is the home of the Education Department, though it remains dedicated to Mitchell, a pioneer in both astronomy and women's education.
1865: Main Building, which was designed by James Renwick, Jr., completed along with Gate Lodge, which is no longer standing.
Sept., 1865: The first 353 students begin their studies at Vassar Female College.
April 29, 1866: Students celebrate the birthday of the Founder, making this the first celebration of Founder's Day. Founder's Day changed considerably over the year. Over time it changed from a day of lectures and solemn recognition of Vassar's history to today's carnival-like atmosphere.
Sept., 1866: Christine Ladd-Franklin matriculates and is initially disappointed by what she sees of the College, which she records in her diary. However, her opinions are turned around in a matter of days, though she retains a critical eye.
1867: Trustees strike the word "female" from "Vassar Female College" after persistent criticism from Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book, who insisted the if Yale College was not called "Yale Male College" then Vassar had no need to be called "Vassar Female College."
Feb. 3, 1868: At the request of students, the first constitution of student government is approved. This is the first iteration of student government at Vassar.
June 23, 1868: Matthew Vassar dies during a speech to the Board of
Trustees just before reading the last paragraph. After some deliberation, the Trustees reconvened to read the end of his speech. Vassar is buried in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery.
1878: President Raymond dies. Samuel L. Caldwell elected president.
1885: Caldwell resigns as president.
1886: James Monroe Taylor elected president. Taylor led the campus through a period of major expansion including an increase in the student population to 1000 students, the construction of six buildings and the expansion of the curriculum. Taylor served the College for 28 years and has the second-longest tenure as Vassar College President.
1887: Lucy Maynard Salmon is hired to establish the history department. She rejects traditional methods of teaching history through memorization and chose rather to teach her students how to be scholars of history. She is the origin of the department's motto "go to the source."
1889: Sophomores use daisies for the first time to decorate the Chapel for Class Day. This decision eventually led to the creation of the Daisy Chain, one of Vassar's oldest traditions in which sophomore "Daisies" precede the seniors in the commencement procession, leading them towards graduation.
1893: Strong Hall is finished. Built to accommodate the growing student body, Strong is the first residential building outside of Main.
Nov. 9, 1895: First Field Day ever held at a women's college takes place on what is now Noyes Circle. The Field Day included athletic competitions in track events, such as the hundred-yard dash and the long jump, and in basketball.
1897: Both Rockefeller Hall and Raymond House are finished. John D. Rockefeller promised $100,000 for Rockefeller Hall, and the building was completed for $99,998.75. Rockefeller's daughter attended the College, and Rockefeller also provided funding for the Strong and Davison House.
1902: Eliza Davison House is completed, named in honor of Rockefeller's mother finished.
1905: Meeting the demand for increased library space, the Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library is finished and named in honor of the former trustee.
1907: Jewett House is completed.
1915: Henry Noble MacCracken elected president of the College. With a 31 year tenure, MacCracken remains Vassar's longest-serving president. His presidency was marked by the establishment of the euthenics curriculum and the buildings related to the program, including Blodgett Hall of Euthenics, Cushing House, Kenyon Hall and the Wimpheimer Nursery and Infant Toddler Center. While euthenics ultimately failed to take off, the program left a significant mark on both Vassar's campus and its curriculum by pre-empting the multidisciplinary study that takes place at the College today.
April 24, 1916: Shakespeare Garden opens in honor of the 300th anniversary of the death of the playwright and poet.
1917: Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay graduates from the College. Millay went on to become the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
1924: Euthenics officially established as an area of study at Vassar, a precursor to modern multi-disciplinary programs. Euthenics was the study of the sciences as they could be applied to the improvement of society.
1927: Hallie Flanagan begins and Experimental Theater program with a production of Anton Chekhov's "A Marriage Proposal." Flanagan was the first woman to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship, an opportunity which she used to travel Europe studying theater.
1931: Franklin Delano Roosevelt gives the Commencement address. Roosevelt was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1923 until his death. Eleanor Roosevelt also became a frequent visitor to Vassar and a participant in College life, especially in the Vassar Summer Institute in Euthenics.
1932: Belle Skinner Hall of Music finished. The building is designed to look like a French chateau as a testament to Belle Skinner, member of the Class of 1887, and her aid to France during and after World War I, which culminated in her adoption of the French town Hattonchatel, which she restored.
1934: Elizabeth Bishop, distinguished American poet, graduates from the College.
1946: President MacCracken retires. Sarah Gibson Blanding is elected as president. Blanding raised $25 million for the College during her tenure, oversaw the construction of three buildings, and significantly increased faculty salaries. However, Blanding's conservative views on student behavior occasionally ruffled feathers.
1951: Dexter M. Ferry Cooperative House completed.
1958: Emma Hartman Noyes House completed.
Jan. 18, 1961: Vassar turns 100.
1964: President Blanding retires. Dr. Alan Simpson becomes president of the College. Simpson's presidency is most remembered for the transition to co-education as well as modernizing the curriculum.
1966: Vassar and Yale officially begin to consider a coordination of programs.
1967: Plans for coordination move forward, while the College also considers alternative plans, such as expanding Vassar to include graduate studies
1968: Faculty suggest co-education, which is, in the end, adopted by Trustees. First male students enroll in the fall.
1969: First male transfer students matriculate.
1970: First freshman class with male students begins classes at the College.
1971: The first course evaluation is approved by the faculty. The process of course evaluation by students continues, though the questions on the course evaluation questionnaires (CEQs) have come under review as well as their paper status. Next year, it is likely that CEQs will move online.
April, 1973: Beginning of the Student Fellows program.
1977: Virginia B. Smith becomes president of the College. During her tenure, Smith created the Campus Investor Responsibility Committee after students protested Vassar's investments in companies with business in South Africa. The committee brought a new level of transparency to the financial side of the College.
1986: Frances Daly Fergusson becomes president of the College after Smith's resignation. In addition to significant improvements of the College's finances, highlights of Fergusson's tenure as president include renovations of campus buildings and the construction of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center as well as the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film.
2006: Catharine Bond Hill becomes president of the College after Fergusson retires. Hill has made access one of the hallmarks of her presidency by reinstating the College's need-blind admissions policy.
Jan. 18, 2011: The 150th anniversary of the charter of the College.
This timeline owes a great deal to the Vassar College Encyclopedia, which has detailed articles about exciting episodes and characters from Vassar's history, and the timeline by the Vassar College Historian Elizabeth Daniels, which is a very comprehensive chronology.
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