Author: Swarthmore College

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2016-09-09

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 9781333525897

Excerpt from The Halcyon, '91, Vol. 6 The movement to establish a college, ' although such a thing had been more or less agitated since the time of the separation, pre vions to 1830, first made itself felt in the several Yearly Meetings about, 1861, but it was not until two years later that it took any well defined shape. Meanwhile a number of prominent persons identified themselves with the project, foremost among them being Edward Parrish, who, by means of public speeches, correspondence and the publication of a book, Education in the Society of Friends, did perhaps, more in the way of effort than any one other person to awaken interest in the matter. In 1863 a stock company was formed and shares were taken in large and small blocks by hundreds of Friends. In 1864 a charter was granted the corporation, and this may be taken as the legal date of the founding of the college. The work of collecting money and making preparations for the erection of the buildings, like other great undertakings, moved slowly, and it was not until May 10, 1866, that the corner-stone of the main hall was laid. This was a great occa sion and a large number of interested persons were present. Samuel Willets, of New York, who afterwards became the college's greatest benefactor, was chosen to preside, and Edward Parrish, who had already been elected President of the college, led the cere monies. From the speeches on this occasion a firm belief in the feasibility of the then almost untried experiment of co-education iseasily recognized, as is also a firm determination to make the new institution a college of high standing and not a mere school, as was first suggested. The work on the necessary buildings was so far completed that the college was opened for students on November 8, 1869, with a registry of twenty students in the Freshman class and 150 in the Preparatory School. Two days later the formal opening took place. The growth of the institution from this time forward, with the various details of its history, would make an interesting volume, and can be but brie y touched upon here. The growth of the student sentiment with the founding of the literary societies, ath lctic organizations and fraternities is spoken of elsewhere, and the interesting tales of the old days and times before the fire are best enjoyed when dropped from the store of recollection of those who were with the college during the formative stage of its exist ence. The addition, one by one, of the several departments and the gradual broadening of the scope of the institution can only be treated as fully as they deserve when the long-promised history of the college appears. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."