Yale+University

 __** YALE UNIVERSITY **__

 **The Founding of Yale University ** Yale’s origins can be traced back as far as the 1640s when clergymen in New Haven first theorized about creating an institution. They wished to protect the practices of liberal education from Europe in the New World. However, their dream was not satisfied until 1701 when a charter to the school was finally granted. On October 9, 1701, in the Colony of Connecticut, the General Court passed “An Act for Liberty to Erect a Collegiate School.” They aimed to establish an educational facility in which they could prepare ministers and develop young leaders for the colony. Their goal was to lay a solid foundation of leadership in order to ensure Connecticut’s future well-being.  **Yale Charter **Ironically, a group of ten Harvard alumni were the men who came to be known as “The Founders.” With James Pierpont as the leader, the ten men, all also Congregationalist ministers, got together in Reverend Samuel Russell’s study in Branford, Connecticut. Erecting the university’s first library, the men collected and donated books from each of their own personal anthologies. The school first opened in Killingworth, Connecticut, birthplace of Abraham Pierson, one of the university’s original founders. At first called the //Collegiate School//, the institution changed locations several times, first moving to Saybrook and then to Wethersfield, Connecticut. Finally, in 1718, New Haven became the university’s permanent home. Upon the request of founder, Samuel Andrew, and Connecticut’s Governor, Gurdon Saltonstall, a successful businessman named Elihu Yale was asked for financial assistance in 1718. Living in Wales, Yale had become wealthy through trade as a representative from the East India Company. The school yearned for the construction of a new building. Graciously, Yale accepted the request and donated nine bales of goods as well as 417 books and a portrait of King George I to the college. In gratitude for Yale’s kindness, in addition to hopes of large future donations, the institution was renamed “Yale College.” **Elihu Yale ** Nathaniel Chauncey, son of the founder Israel Chauncey, earned the first diploma from Yale College in 1702. At the end of Yale’s first hundred years, the school had grown rapidly and survived the American Revolutionary War. The next centuries brought about the creation of the graduate and professional schools that transformed Yale into a true university. The schools of medicine, law, and art followed the formation of the graduate school – eventually leading to Yale’s present reputation as one of the most prestigious institutions in the country and the world. ** James Pierpont - Founder ** James Pierpont was born January 4, 1659 in Roxbury Massachusetts. He graduated from the Roxbury Latin School and later on, Harvard University. Pierpont was a Congregationalist minister, meaning each congregation operated independently. This left a large amount of importance to the minister position, a responsibility Pierpont accepted and undertook with conviction. Pierpont married his third wife, Mary Hooker, in 1698 at the age of 39. Mary was the granddaughter of Reverend Thomas Hooker, the chief founder of the Connecticut Colony. The Reverend had himself, in fact, dissented from Puritan leaders in Massachusetts before creating the Connecticut Colony. This fact reflects that, although Pierpont was connected to deep roots within the colonies, he still succeeded in developing his own revolutionary ideas and stuck to his convictions in the face of traditional backlash. <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">James and Mary had a daughter, Sarah Pierpont, who in 1727 married the passionate minister Jonathan Edwards. Edwards was a prominent figure of the Great Awakening, and ironically had attended Yale University before marrying the daughter of its founder. These relationships between prominent members within multiple colonies allowed Pierpont to be exceedingly informed about many colonial issues. With this knowledge, he was able to make intelligent and thoughtful decisions in regards to the policies and conditions of Yale University. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jonathan Edwards ** <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">As a religious leader, Pierpont was sympathetic to dissident movements (partly because of his grandfather-in-law’s history) and supported the development and acceptance of varying religious views. He played an influential role in the Saybrook Platform, which dealt with conservative religious proposals adopted in Saybrook, Connecticut at the time. The platform attempted to curb disunity within the colony that stemmed from disputes between churches, as well as within churches between pastors and their congregations. The platform proposed “associations” of pastors and elders and “consociations” of churches that would have broad power to address, and license over, religious disputes. These disputes began with the Halfway Covenant and the introduction of a broader religious diversity within traditional colonies, and culminated in the Great Awakening. <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">Pierpont’s involvement and positive participation in the religious order of his colony, where he resided as a prominent religious leader, as well as his extensive family lineage, portrays Pierpont as a conscientious, fair man. His knowledge of the inner workings of colonial government and the ways in which to mediate between adverse groups qualified him to be the leading force behind an institution as prestigious as Yale University.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">James Pierpont **

** Significance ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Yale University is the third oldest University in America and has played a major role since its founding in 1701. It is a coeducational, private, non-sectarian school in New Haven, Connecticut. Famous architects have contributed to the campus, such as the new science center and Connecticut hall, the oldest structure left over from the colonial days. Yale library has over 9 million copies and contains many rare books and manuscripts, and the //Yale Daily News//, started in 1787, is the oldest college paper in the country. Yale graduates have been leaders throughout American History in such arenas as government, business, industry, community service, and the arts. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">When 10 clergy men were granted a charter for a collegiate school in 1701, it purpose was to educate ministers, not public servants or businessmen. Like all early colonial colleges, Yale rarely enrolled students from outside its area and the education it offered was hardly distinguished—young ‘professors’ were mostly recent graduates passing on whatever knowledge their tutors had given them. This American ‘University’ was much different than Oxford and Cambridge in Britain. Those institutions were a privilege for elites only with tradition that prevented any lesser colleges from breaking onto their pedestal. But when the colonists began establishing their own education system, the clear English lines were blurred on their way across the Atlantic, and there was no clear distinction between Colleges and Universities. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">From the beginning, Yale played a major role in its community, and throughout history, like other American colleges, that role has only expanded. As industrialization became more important to America in the middle of the nineteenth century, leaders wanted to upgrade the quality of American education to focus on math and science—and provide a laboratory for innovation and invention. Yale was a leader in this movement when the school of Applied Chemistry and the Department of Civil Engineering combined to form the Yale scientific school in 1854. This led to an increased number of American scientists which were a huge part of making the United States the greatest industrial power by 1900. Now, Universities are much more than schools. Apart from libraries and museums, Yale is the ninth leading research University in the country. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Before independence, Yale produced many revolutionary leaders, 4 of which signed the declaration. Active support back on campus included a student militia that defended New Haven from British soldiers. Now, Yale is New Haven’s largest employer and taxpayer. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; text-align: center;">Every community wanted a college of their own to provide educated citizens as well as pride. In Europe, universities were self governed and isolated from the community. In the colonies, the community itself set up the university and, following the democratic tradition, allowed the community to be a part of governing it. College presidents represented both the college and the public. The universities were founded for practical purposes, and the community relied on them just as much as they relied on the community. Also, unlike in the ivy covered British Universities, more modest American colleges were more in touch with current events, which led to more practical education. Suddenly, the control that the rich had over higher education was shattered, and in the United States it became accessible to many more people. The ability to give degrees in the colonies wasn’t technically legal, either. When Yale was founded, Harvard was on very shaky legal grounds. Afraid to attract the attention of English authorities, Yale was given the lowest name possible—“collegiate”—to give it a start. But it went right along giving out degrees anyway, and eventually they were just accepted because they had been doing it for so long.



** Edward Bouchet ** Yale has been a pioneer in many other areas besides research. It has fostered important law movements, including law and the economy and international human rights. The Yale literary Magazine, started in 1836, pioneered new ways to study literature. In the first two centuries since its founding, Yale played an active role in spreading Christianity by training international missionaries. But Yale is also spreading diversity. In the 1830’s, the first western degree given to someone from Latin America was at Yale, as was the first given to someone from China. Edward Bouchet was the first African American to earn a PhD in 1876 at Yale. Yale has produced 5 presidents and 500 members of congress, but its contributions to American history and culture have been more than just the students passing through, but all of the other roles it plays in our society.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">SOURCES __** "About Yale: History." Yale Universiy. 2010. [|www.yale.edu]

// Around The World //. 2007. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. []

Boorstin, Daniel. //The Americans: The Colonial Experience//. New York City, New York: Vintage Books, 1985.

Bremner, Robert. “Yale University.” //World Book Encyclopedia//. 2007. Volume 21.

Cole, Jonathan. //The Great American University//. New York City, New York: Public Affairs, 2009.

Hooker, Edward (1909). [|"The Descendants of Rev. Thomas Hooker, Hartford, CT"]. []. Retrieved 2006-07-12

"James Pierpont Yale Founder : Who, Wh ﻿at, Where, When." // Serving History : //. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. []

Kennedy, David M., and Lizabeth Cohen. "Schools and Colleges." //The American Pageant//. Boston, MA: Charles Hartford, 2006. Print.

Oviatt, Edwin. The Beginnings Of Yale. New Haven, 1916. 105-48. Yale University Library. Web. 21 Oct. 2010

ProQuest Document View - Reverend James Pierpont: New Haven and the Founding of Yale, 1659--1714 (Connecticut)." //ProQuest - Central To Research//

“Snapshots from Physics History.” American Physics Society. 2010. []