Harcum College

Last updated
Harcum College
Harcum College Seal.png
Type Private associate degree-granting college
Established1915
President Jon Jay DeTemple
Students1,600
Location,
U.S.

40°01′20″N75°18′49″W / 40.0223°N 75.3137°W / 40.0223; -75.3137
CampusSuburban, 14 acres (0.057 km2)
Colors     Purple & white
Nickname Bears
Sporting affiliations
NJCAA Division I
Website www.harcum.edu
Harcum College Logo.png

Harcum College is a private associate degree-granting college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1915 and was the first college in Pennsylvania authorized to grant associate degrees.

Contents

History

Edith Hatcher, daughter of prominent Virginia clergyman and educator William E. Hatcher, was a talented concert pianist. In 1913, Edith Hatcher married Octavius Marvin Harcum. After the birth of their first child, Edith wrote "the concert career did not offer a chance for family stability" so they chose a venture that would combine "my talents as an educator and artist and his business vision and ability."

They opened the Harcum Post Graduate School on October 1, 1915, in Melville Hall with three students and five pianos. Edith's goal was to "start a school where the individual talent of each girl would be treated as an integral part of her education." Though her expertise was in the fine arts, Edith was also committed to providing a strong academic program.

In its early years, Harcum was a university preparatory school, giving students the skills needed for college study. It quickly grew, soon adding junior college-level courses. Mr. Harcum, or "Uncle Marvin" as the students called him, was the first President. When he died in a car accident in 1920, Edith assumed the Presidency. She remained in that post for more than 30 years.

Harcum's Melville Hall Melville Hall.jpg
Harcum's Melville Hall

Leadership was eventually assumed by Philip Klein and Henry Klein. In 1956, Pennsylvania granted Harcum permission to be the first junior college in the Commonwealth's history to confer the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Science degrees. Tremendous building and expansion occurred in the 1960s with the addition of the Academic Center, Pennswood Hall, and Klein Hall. Historically a women's college, Harcum began admitting male students during the 1970s and became officially co-educational in 2003.

Today, Harcum serves traditional and non-traditional students interested in Allied Health Science, Business and Human Services, with both a commuter and residential experience. Henry Klein served on Harcum's board of trustees for more than 50 years, holding the record for the longest serving board member at any university or college in the United States of America.

Academics

Harcum College offers over 20 degree programs in fields like Allied Health Science, Business, Human Services, Design, and Education. Non-credit courses, certificate programs, and professional development programs are offered through the Office of Continuing Studies. Courses are offered at Harcum's Bryn Mawr campus, at partnership sites, and online.

Campus

Harcum's main campus is in Bryn Mawr on the Philadelphia Main Line.

The campus is in the municipality of Lower Merion Township, [1] and in the Bryn Mawr census-designated place. [2]

The main campus buildings stretch along Montgomery Avenue, including the historic Melville Hall, Klein Hall, Bedford Hall, The Academic Center (which includes Harcum's Library), historic Richter Hall and Pennswood Hall — the college's main residence hall.

Also on campus is the college's Cohen Dental Center, a 16-chair clinical facility which houses the Dental Clinic, Dental Laboratory, and classrooms.

The Veterinary Services building houses the Animal Care Facility which services the AVMA accredited Veterinary Technology program.

The Harcum Music School was founded in 1985 when Medley Music of Bryn Mawr transferred ownership of their teaching division to Harcum College. The school officially moved to Harcum's Bryn Mawr campus in 1990. The Harcum Music School is open to Harcum students as well as community members who wish to learn a musical instrument, take intermediate or advanced lessons, collaborate with other musicians, or play in front of a live audience.

The Kevin D. Marlo Little Theatre—named after Kevin D. Marlo, son of Harcum Trustee Dennis Marlo and an aspiring actor and who was killed during the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center—is an historic theatre that was restored and revived in 2011 in an effort to reconnect students and community to the arts.

The campus is connected to center city Philadelphia by the Paoli/Thorndale Line of Regional Rail.

Athletics

Harcum offers men and women's basketball and indoor and outdoor track & field as well as women's volleyball and men and women's soccer.

The athletic teams are members of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

The college's official mascot is "Hatcher the Bear", named after founder Edith Hatcher Harcum.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania</span> Census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States

Bryn Mawr, from Welsh for 'big hill', is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township and Haverford Township in Delaware County, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haverford College</span> Private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania

Haverford College is a private liberal arts college that is located in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and began accepting non-Quakers in 1849. It then became coeducational in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn Mawr College</span> Liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, US

Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of historically women's colleges in the United States, and the Tri-College Consortium along with Haverford College and Swarthmore College. It is one of 15 Quaker colleges in the United States. The college has an enrollment of about 1,350 undergraduate students and 450 graduate students. It was the first women's college to offer graduate education through a PhD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple University</span> Public university in Philadelphia, United States

Temple University is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Baptist Temple. On May 12, 1888, it was renamed the Temple College of Philadelphia. By 1907, the institution revised its institutional status and was incorporated as a research university.

The Seven Sisters are a group of seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges: Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Wellesley College are still women's colleges. Vassar College is currently a coeducational college and Radcliffe College was absorbed in 1999 by Harvard College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Joseph's University</span> Private university in Pennsylvania, US

Saint Joseph's University is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh oldest Jesuit university in the United States and the fourth largest university in Philadelphia. It is named after Saint Joseph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State University of New York at Canton</span> State University of New Yorks public college in Canton

The State University of New York at Canton is a public college in Canton, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college offers 31 bachelor's degrees, 20 associate degrees, three one-year certificate programs, and 23 online degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midwestern University</span> American graduate university

Midwestern University (MWU) is a private medical and professional school with campuses in Downers Grove, Illinois and Glendale, Arizona. As of the 2020–21 academic year, a total of 2,987 students were enrolled at the Downers Grove campus and 3,902 were enrolled at the Glendale campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Carey Thomas</span> American suffragist

Martha Carey Thomas was an American educator, suffragist, and linguist. She was the second president of Bryn Mawr College, a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona State University Polytechnic campus</span>

Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus is a public university in Mesa, Arizona. It is one of five campuses of Arizona State University. Founded as ASU East, the campus opened in fall 1996 on the former Williams Air Force Base in southeast Mesa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manor College</span> Catholic college in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

Manor College is a private Catholic college in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. It offers associate and bachelor's degrees and is best known for its veterinary technician and dental hygiene programs. To give students a hands-on learning experience, the college is home to both a Dental Health Center that serves the local community and a 50 acre farm and fully operational on-campus veterinary laboratories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cope and Stewardson</span> American architecture firm

Cope and Stewardson (1885–1912) was a Philadelphia architecture firm founded by Walter Cope and John Stewardson, and best known for its Collegiate Gothic building and campus designs. Cope and Stewardson established the firm in 1885, and were joined by John's brother Emlyn in 1887. It went on to become one of the most influential and prolific firms of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. They made formative additions to the campuses of Bryn Mawr College, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Washington University in St. Louis. They also designed nine cottages and an administrative building at the Sleighton School, which showed their adaptability to other styles, because their buildings here were Colonial Revival with Federal influences. In 1912, the firm was succeeded by Stewardson and Page formed by Emlyn Stewardson and George Bispham Page.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Ayer Barnes</span> American dramatist

Margaret Ayer Barnes was an American playwright, novelist, and short-story writer. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Bryn Mawr School, founded in 1885 as the first college-preparatory school for girls in the United States, is an independent, nonsectarian all-girls school for grades PK-12, with a coed preschool. Bryn Mawr School is located in the Roland Park community of Baltimore, Maryland, United States at 109 W. Melrose Avenue, Baltimore MD 21210.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemont College</span> Catholic liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, U.S.

Rosemont College is a private Catholic university in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1921 as a women's college by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, the undergraduate program opened to male students beginning in fall 2009. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Rosemont also offers a range of master's degrees through its school of graduate studies and school of professional studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quaker Consortium</span> Academic consortium in greater Philadelphia

The Quaker Consortium is an arrangement among three liberal arts colleges, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and Swarthmore College, and one research university, the University of Pennsylvania, all located in the greater Philadelphia area. The arrangement allows for their students to enroll in courses at the other schools of the Consortium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Rhoads</span>

James Evans Rhoads (1828—1895) from Marple Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania was an American educator and administrator, president of Bryn Mawr College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn Mawr College Deanery</span> Building in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States

The Bryn Mawr College Deanery was the campus residence of the first Dean and second President of Bryn Mawr College, Martha Carey Thomas, who maintained a home there from 1885 to 1933. Under the direction of Thomas, the Deanery was greatly enlarged and lavishly decorated for entertaining the college's important guests, students, and alumnae, as well as Thomas’ own immediate family and friends. From its origins as a modest five room Victorian cottage, the Deanery grew into a sprawling forty-six room mansion which included design features from several notable 19th and 20th century artists. The interior was elaborately decorated with the assistance of the American artist Lockwood de Forest and Louis Comfort Tiffany, de Forest's partner in the design firm Tiffany & de Forest, supplied a number of light fixtures of Tiffany glass. De Forest's design of the Deanery's so-called 'Blue Room' is particularly important as it is often considered one of the best American examples of an Aesthetic Movement interior, alongside the Peacock Room by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. In addition, John Charles Olmsted, of the Olmsted Brothers landscape design firm, designed a garden adjacent to the Deanery, which also contained imported works of art from Syria, China, and Italy. The Deanery's beauty and rich history established the Deanery as a cherished space on campus and an icon of Bryn Mawr College.

Edith Hayward Hall Dohan (1877–1943) was an American archaeologist who earned Bryn Mawr College's first classical archaeology Ph.D. Hall was part of an excavation team with Harriet Boyd in her early career that most notably brought the first Mycenaean and pre-Mycenaean collection to be displayed in America. Hall later wrote The Decorative Art of Cretein the Bronze Age, which was published in 1906 that breaks down the evolution of the art and pottery in Crete from the Bronze Age.

References

  1. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Lower Merion township, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 3 (PDF p. 4/5). Retrieved 2022-12-19. Harcum Colg
  2. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Bryn Mawr CDP, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved 2022-12-21.