Seeing as consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton ranked Dartmouth, alongside the U.S. Constitution, Oxford University and General Electric, as one of the world's most enduring institutions, it comes as no surprise that the College's storied 236-year history is full of challenges faced and overcome.
Since its founding in 1769, Dartmouth has been home to a diverse range of characters including Daniel Webster, Dr. Seuss, Robert Frost and Keggy. Dartmouth, the ninth oldest college in the country, is a relatively small institution that has influenced the hearts and lives of many of this country's greatest figures.
The Dawn of Dartmouth
Although officially founded in 1769, Dartmouth's origins lie much further back.
In 1754, Congregationalist minister Eleazar Wheelock established the Moor's Indian Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut, seeking to educate Native Americans and spread Christianity. Fifteen years later, unable to find enough Native American pupils to fill the school, Wheelock closed the school and sent a student, Samuel Occum, to England to raise money.
When Occum returned with enough funds to expand the school into a college, Wheelock relocated to a log cabin in Hanover, N.H., in response to an invitation by New Hampshire Governor John Wentworth, who advocated the small village along the Connecticut River.
With Wentworth's help, King George III of England granted Wheelock a royal charter on December 13, 1769, thereby establishing the ninth and last colonial college to be royally chartered in the United States before the American Revolution in 1775.
Other colonial colleges include all the other Ivy League institutions, with the exception of Cornell, as well as the College of William and Mary, and Rutgers University.
In the charter, the College was expressly mandated "for the education and instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land in reading, writing and all parts of Learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and Christianizing Children of Pagans as well as all liberal arts and sciences and also of English Youth and any others."
Although Wheelock had originally hoped to name the new school "Wentworth College" in honor of the New Hampshire governor, Wentworth's declination allowed Wheelock to turn to his friend, William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth, a major financial contributor and one of the original trustees of the College.
Early Challenges
The first Class of 1771 consisted of four people, all of whom had completed their first three years of education at Yale College in Connecticut.
The Class of 1771 Commencement ceremony took place where Reed Hall now stands and included a graduation address by a Native American student seated on the branch of an overhanging pine tree.
The following celebratory banquet was unsuccessful, as the chefs had worked their way through some rum brought by Wentworth and were too inebriated to prepare the meal.
In 1779, Wheelock died and passed the presidency of the College on to his son, John. John Wheelock's most cherished bequest is Dartmouth Hall, which was constructed in 1791. The original building housed a chapel, dormitory, library and classrooms, later to become the centerpiece of Dartmouth Row.
It was also during John Wheelock's presidency that what is now The Dartmouth newspaper was established.
Despite John Wheelock's lasting legacy on the future of Dartmouth, his term was filled with controversy.
By the early 1800s, many of the College's original Trustees, who had been relatives or friends of Eleazar Wheelock, had died. Eleazar Wheelock had expressly written in the College charter that people of any religious organization could be admitted to the College.
In 1793, Nathaniel Niles became a trustee of the College, opposed the open admissions and split the Board of Trustees into two opposing parties. In 1815, John Wheelock was ousted, and convinced the state legislature of New Hampshire to take control and amend the College charter, thereby making the new Dartmouth University into a public school.
The Board of Trustees opposed the state takeover, and hired alumnus Daniel Webster, from the class of 1801, to argue the case.
Failing to win in the New Hampshire Superior Court, Webster took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, thereby establishing a precedent for all future cases.
In the case Woodward vs. Dartmouth College, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of the College -- private charters are beyond the realm of state power.
In a peroration that moved the Supreme Court justices to tears, Webster said, "This, Sir is my case! It is the case not merely of that humble institution; it is the case of every college in our Land.... It is, in some sense, the case of every man among us who has property of which he may be stripped, for the question is simply this, 'Shall our state legislatures be allowed to take that which is not their own, to turn it from its original use, and apply it to such ends and purposes as they in their discretion shall see fit!'
"Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is weak, it is in your hands! I know it is one of the lesser lights on the literary horizon of this country. You may put it out, but if you do so, you must carry through with your work! Your must extinguish, one after another, all those great lights of which for more than a century, have thrown their radiance over the land. It is, Sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet, there are those who love it."
The Dartmouth Wilderness
Throughout its history, Dartmouth has been characterized by the rugged New Hampshire environment. Known for its forest-green school color, and nicknamed "the Big Green," all Dartmouth students leave having known a little bit about the outdoors.
That spirit was embodied by John Ledyard, who, after only four months at the College, departed on a trip among Iroquois Indians. In the winter months, he burrowed into the snow to stay warm. In 1773, he departed Dartmouth by sail on the Connecticut River.
Despite his brief stay at the College, Ledyard's spirit for adventure still serves as inspiration for many of Dartmouth's outdoors organizations, including the Dartmouth Outing Club, which is the largest student organization on campus in terms of membership. Both the bridge connecting New Hampshire to Vermont and the Hanover boathouse bear his name.
The Dartmouth Green itself has long been the centerpiece of Dartmouth's campus. Up until 1820, each class of students was charged with uprooting one of the trees or stumps on the Green. The Green became the communal hub for the town of Hanover as well, as the Green was open for the public herding of cattle.
In protest, early Dartmouth students pulled a number of pranks involving the town's cows, once hiding them in the basement of Dartmouth Hall, and once driving all of them to the Connecticut River.
The Green used to be surrounded by a fence to prevent the cows from roaming.
Nicknamed the "Senior Fence," only seniors were allowed to sit on it. Any freshman caught sitting on the fence faced reprimand by the seniors.
The fence was mostly dismantled in 1893, as the Green was no longer used to graze cows. A small portion across from Collis Center remains for the seniors.
A University in All But Name
Although Dartmouth was established as, and continues to be, an undergraduate-focused college, Dartmouth boasts a number of professional schools and graduate programs that places it as one of the most distinguished educational institutions in the world.
Dartmouth's oldest graduate school is the Dartmouth Medical School, founded in 1797 by Dr. Nathan Smith, one of the leading surgeons and physicians of this time.
Sylvanus Thayer, from the Class of 1807, founded the Thayer School of Engineering in 1867. The Chandler School of Science, the first professional school of engineering in the United States, was constructed in 1851. It was later absorbed into Dartmouth's undergraduate program. An agricultural school was founded in 1868, though it was later dissolved.
The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, the world's oldest business school, was the final graduate school to be established at Dartmouth in 1900. Edward Tuck, a member of the Class of 1835, helped found the graduate school.
The Greek System
Secret society-like fraternities emerged in the 1840s, originally centered around weekly debates on history and literature.
In 1849, the Trustees voted to abolish fraternities, though the prohibition on fraternities was largely ignored.
The 1973 movie "Animal House" was co-written by Dartmouth alumnus, Chris Miller '63, who later explained that many of the silly antics from the movie were based from his fraternity experience at Dartmouth.
Today, fraternities and sororities have a strong visible presence in the Dartmouth community. Because of efforts by the administration to dampen the influence of the Greek system, fraternities and sororities are the focus of a heated debate between the Board and many members of the student body. Recent compromises have been made in loosening the Student Life Initiative to give fraternities and sororities more freedom on campus, with the possibility of new Greek organizations on campus.
Presidential Legacies
The first three presidents following John Wheelock served for only a combined total of 13 years.
Francis Brown presided over the College during the 1816 Supreme Court case, but the stresses during his tenure deteriorated his health.
He died at age 35, five years after becoming president.
Daniel Dana had a similarly difficult time as president of the College. He resigned a year after becoming president, due to health problems.
The fifth president, Bennett Tyler, served as Dartmouth president from 1822 until 1828, during which time the first African American student, Edward Mitchell, was accepted in 1824.
A devout Christian, Tyler left the College to return to the ministry.
Appointed in 1828, Nathan Lord served as president of the College for over 35 years, during the tumultuous years before the Civil War.
He held strong pro-slavery stances, believing that the Bible supported slavery. When U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was slated for an honorary degree, Lord fought against it.
At the same time, Dartmouth made great strides during his presidency -- he greatly improved Dartmouth's financial situation, and used the funds to build Thornton and Wentworth Halls.
When the United States entered into the Civil War, unhappy members of the Dartmouth community asked that Lord be removed from office.
He resigned in 1863.
Asa Dodge Smith's presidency saw the one hundredth anniversary of Dartmouth College, celebrated amidst continual growth of the school. Through an increased amount of funds, the Thayer School of Engineering was established, and the other schools grew in both size and enrollment.
President Samuel Concord Bartlett possessed a strong belief in Bible-centered study and used his theological convictions to undermine the Chandler School of Science and end the agricultural school at Dartmouth.
The agricultural school was transplanted to Durham, N.H., and eventually became the University of New Hampshire.
A significant controversy surrounded Bartlett's presidency. Accused of alienating the faculty, ignoring administrative duties and behaving poorly, Bartlett countered with extraordinary diplomacy and overcame the protests to serve for another ten years.
Ninth president William Jewett Tucker used his background as a preacher for different ends than his predecessors. During his administration, students were no longer forced to go to chapel. Tucker claimed it was not the College's purpose to convert students.
Tucker also extended the curriculum beyond the classics and entrusted students with greater academic self-determination.
During Tucker's tenure, 13 dormitories, a number of science buildings and Webster Hall were either built or greatly remodeled. The addition of a heating plant meant that students would no longer need to use their wood stoves.
Appointed in 1909, Ernest Fox Nichols was the first President since John Wheelock who was not a member of the clergy. Renowned for his work in the physics department at Dartmouth, he later stepped down to accept a position as professor of physics at Yale and then as president at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Eleventh President Ernest Martin Hopkins, a member of the Class of 1901, rivaled Tucker in popularity.
Baker Library, a hallmark of the College and a defining structure of the Green, was built under Hopkins' leadership.
Under his control, the College also experienced great controversy regarding the creation of the Orozco murals in the basement of Baker Library in the 1930s, and saw both world wars through to conclusions.
John Sloan Dickey, Class of 1929, presided in 1945 and established the Great Issues course that brought renowned speakers to Hanover as part of a popular interdisciplinary course for seniors.
With a strong background of working in foreign affairs, his tenure emphasized foreign studies and public affairs.
"He expressed the hope that when we left college we would understand two things about the world -- that its troubles were our troubles and that its worst troubles, coming from within men, could be fixed by better human beings," Robert Kilmarx '50 said about Dickey.
In 1970, Dickey was succeeded by the mathematician John Kemeny, who helped create the BASIC computer programming language and worked to strengthen the mathematics department during his tenure.
In 1972, Dartmouth became the last of the Ivy League to admit women following a long and controversial debate.
The Dartmouth Plan, a year-round quarter system, was established as a compromise, to prevent a reduction in male enrollment, while allowing women to matriculate as well.
David McLaughlin '54 saw to the erection of the Berry Sports Center and construction of the Maxwell and Channing Cox apartments.
His tenure was one of general growth, as faculty salaries grew, need-blind admissions expanded and new academic programs were established.
During President James O. Freedman's 11 years, there was a renewed interest in intellectualism on campus, with a revitalization of the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies, Electro-Acoustic Music, Environmental Studies, Jewish Studies and Linguistics and Cognitive Science programs. A new curriculum with more distributive requirements took effect with the Class of 1988.
President James Wright will undoubtedly witness many more important debates in the Dartmouth community, as Dartmouth and its students continue to play a key intellectual role in the important issues of the 21st century.
