Washington & Jefferson College is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, which is located in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to the American frontier in the 1780s: John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith. These early schools eventually grew into two competing academies and colleges, with Canonsburg Academy, later Jefferson College, located in Canonsburg and Washington Academy, later Washington College, in Washington. These two colleges merged in 1865 to form Washington & Jefferson College.
The Office of the President is located in McMillan Hall, which is the oldest building on campus, dating to 1793. [1] [2] Prior to 1912, the Office of the President was located in Old Main, taking the two rooms on either side of that building's main entrance. [1] The President's House is a 17-room Victorian mansion on East Wheeling Street between the U. Grant Miller Library and The Burnett Center. [3] [4] It was built in 1892 by the Duncan family and is an archetypical Queen Anne Victorian style building, with ornate "gingerbread" details, stained and beveled glass, recessed doors and windows, and louvered wooden shutters. [4]
The president is the chief executive officer of the college. [5] According to the Washington & Jefferson College Charter, the president of the college is elected by the Board of Trustees, who can also remove him or her at will. [6] The person holding this office must be an American citizen and is also considered to be a member of the teaching faculty. [6] No one may be excluded from holding the presidency on "account of the religious sect or denomination to which he belongs or adheres, provided he shall demean himself in a soberly, orderly manner, and conform to the lawful rules and regulations of the college." [6]
Two men, Andrew Wylie and Matthew Brown, each served as president of both Jefferson College and Washington College. Several early presidents of Jefferson College had close ties to John McMillan, including his son-in-law John Watson and his nephew William McMillan. [7] James Dunlap was one of McMillan's early students. [7] Other Jefferson College presidents held strong bonds with Matthew Brown, including his son Alexander Blaine Brown and his protégé and son-in-law David Hunter Riddle. [8] [9] James I. Brownson, who was a long-time pastor at the First Presbyterian Church, served two separate terms as president pro tempore , once for Washington College and later for Washington & Jefferson College. [10] During World War II, Ralph Cooper Hutchison simultaneously served as president of the college and as Director of Civilian Defense for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [11] Boyd Crumrine Patterson was the most recent Washington & Jefferson alumnus to serve as president. In 2005, Tori Haring-Smith became the first woman to serve as president.
Washington & Jefferson College originates from three log cabin colleges established by John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith, Presbyterian missionaries to the American frontier in the 1780s. [12] John McMillan came to present-day Washington County in 1775 and built his college in 1780 near his church in Chartiers, where he taught a mixture of college-level students and elementary students. [12] Thaddeus Dod built his college in Lower Ten Mile in 1781, teaching mathematics and the classics. [13] Joseph Smith taught classical studies in his college, called "The Study" at Buffalo. [13]
In 1787, Washington Academy was officially chartered, and Thaddeus Dod was named the first principal on January 20, 1789, a position he held until July 1790. [14] [15] He was succeeded by David Johnson, who left for Canonsburg in July 1791. [16] While the Washington Academy Board of Trustees still met during the period of unrest following the Whiskey Act and the subsequent Whiskey Rebellion, educational activities at the academy were essentially at a standstill. [17] James Dobbins took control of the school between 1796 and 1801. [18] Benjamin Mills followed, serving as principal from 1801 to 1805. [16] In 1806, Matthew Brown began his term that would end later that year with the chartering of Washington College. [18]
Efforts to found the school that would become Canonsburg Academy began in October 1791. [19] David Johnson was brought to Canonsburg from Washington Academy in July 1791. [20] He taught several students there for a few years, before leaving in 1793. [21] [22] In 1798, John McMillan became the next person to hold the title of principal, then a largely ceremonial position. [23] In 1802, the academy was chartered as "Jefferson College." [19]
# | Image | Name | Term begin | Term end | Notes | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Watson (1771–1802) | August 29, 1802 | November 30, 1802 [nb 1] | Tutored by John McMillan and attended Canonsburg Academy | [25] | |
2 | James Dunlap (1744–1818) | April 27, 1803 | April 25, 1811 | [26] | ||
3 | Andrew Wylie (1789–1851) | April 29, 1812 | April 1816 | Graduate of Jefferson College (1810); later served as president of Washington College (1817–1828) | [27] [28] [29] | |
4 | William McMillan (1777–1832) | September 24, 1817 | August 14, 1822 | Graduate of Jefferson College (1802) | [30] | |
5 | Matthew Brown (1776–1853) | September 25, 1822 | September 27, 1845 | Previously served as president of Washington College (1806–1817) | [31] [32] [33] | |
6 | Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (1800–1871) | January 2, 1845 | June 9, 1847 | Declined offer to assume the presidency of the united Washington & Jefferson College in 1865 | [34] [35] | |
7 | Alexander Blaine Brown (1808–1863) | October 14, 1847 | August 1856 | [8] | ||
8 | Joseph Alden (1807–1885) | January 7, 1857 | November 4, 1862 | [33] [36] | ||
9 | David Hunter Riddle (1805–1888) | November 4, 1862 | March 4, 1865 [nb 2] | Graduate of Jefferson College (1823) | [33] [37] |
# | Image | Name | Term begin | Term end | Notes | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matthew Brown (1776–1853) | December 16, 1806 | April 30, 1817 | Later served as president of Washington College (1822–1845) | [31] [32] [33] | |
2 | Andrew Wylie (1789–1851) | April 30, 1817 | December 9, 1828 | Graduate of Jefferson College (1810); previously served as president of Jefferson College (1813–1816) | [27] [28] [29] | |
3 | David Elliott (1787–1874) | September 28, 1830 | November 7, 1831 | [38] [39] | ||
4 | David McConaughy (1775–1852) | December 21, 1831 | September 27, 1849 | [33] [40] | ||
5 | James Clark (1812–1892) | May 6, 1850 | July 13, 1852 | [41] [42] | ||
– | James I. Brownson (1817–1899) | July 13, 1852 | September 20, 1853 | Graduate of Washington College (1835); later served as president pro tempore of Washington & Jefferson College (1870) | [43] [44] [45] | |
6 | John W. Scott (1807–1897) | November 10, 1852 | March 4, 1865 [nb 2] | Graduate of Jefferson College (1827) | [46] |
# | Image | Name | Term begin | Term end | Notes | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Edwards (1817–1891) | April 4, 1866 | April 20, 1869 | [47] | ||
– | Samuel J. Wilson (1828–1883) | April 20, 1869 | August 4, 1869 | Graduate of Washington College (1852) | [48] | |
– | James I. Brownson (1817–1899) | February 1, 1870 | August 3, 1870 | Graduate of Washington College (1835); previously served as president pro tempore of Washington (1852–1853) | [43] [44] [45] | |
2 | George P. Hays (1838–1897) | August 3, 1870 | June 20, 1881 | Graduate of Jefferson College (1857) | [49] [50] | |
3 | James D. Moffat (1846–1916) | November 16, 1881 | January 1, 1915 | Graduate of Washington & Jefferson College (1869) | [50] [51] | |
4 | Frederick W. Hinitt (1866–1927) | January 4, 1915 | June 30, 1918 | [52] | ||
– | William E. Slemmons (1855–1939) | May 1918 | June 1919 | [53] | ||
5 | Samuel Charles Black (1869–1921) | April 18, 1919 | July 15, 1921 | [50] [54] | ||
6 | Simon Strousse Baker (1866–1932) | (Acting from July 15, 1921) January 26, 1922 | May 13, 1931 | Graduate of Washington & Jefferson College (1892) | [55] | |
7 | Ralph Cooper Hutchison (1898–1966) | November 13, 1931 | May 7, 1945 | [11] | ||
8 | James Herbert Case, Jr. (1906–1965) | May 4, 1946 | March 25, 1950 | [56] | ||
9 | Boyd Crumrine Patterson (1902–1988) | March 24, 1950 | June 30, 1970 | Graduate of Washington & Jefferson College (1923) | [57] | |
10 | Howard Jerome Burnett (1929–2019) | July 1, 1970 | June 30, 1998 | [58] | ||
11 | Brian C. Mitchell (born 1953) | June 2, 1998 | July 1, 2004 | [59] [60] | ||
– | G. Andrew Rembert | March 5, 2004 | December 31, 2004 | [61] | ||
12 | Tori Haring-Smith | January 1, 2005 | August 1, 2017 | [62] | ||
13 | John C. Knapp (born 1959) | August 1, 2017 | June 30, 2024 | [63] | ||
14 | Elizabeth MacLeod Walls (born 1974) | June 30, 2024 | present | Selection announced on February 27, 2024 | [64] |
Washington & Jefferson College is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian missionaries in the 1780s: John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith. Early schools grew into two competing academies, with Jefferson College located in Canonsburg and Washington College located in Washington. The two colleges merged in 1865 to form Washington & Jefferson College. The 60-acre (24 ha) campus has more than 40 buildings, with the oldest dating to 1793. The college has a strong history of competing literary societies, dating back before the union of Jefferson and Washington Colleges. The athletic program competes in NCAA Division III. Nearly all students live on campus and roughly one third are members of fraternities or sororities.
Andrew Wylie was an American academic and theologian, who was president of Jefferson College (1811–1816) and Washington College (1816–1828) before becoming the first president of Indiana University (1829–1851).
Matthew Brown was a prominent Presbyterian minister and president of Washington College and Jefferson College. Next to John McMillan, Brown was the most important figure to education in Western Pennsylvania.
John Watson was the first principal and president of and professor of moral philosophy at Jefferson College.
William McMillan was elected the fourth president of Jefferson College on September 24, 1817.
David Elliott was the third president of Washington College from 1830 to 1831.
James David Moffat was the 3rd president of Washington & Jefferson College.
James Irwin Brownson, Sr., D.D. was a clergyman and academic in Washington, Pennsylvania. He served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington, Pennsylvania, for over 50 years.
Samuel Jennings Wilson was a clergyman and academic in Western Pennsylvania.
William E. Slemmons was a prominent 19th century clergyman and academic in Western Pennsylvania.
Joseph Ruggles Wilson Sr. was a prominent Presbyterian theologian and father of President Woodrow Wilson, Nashville Banner editor Joseph Ruggles Wilson Jr., and Anne E. Wilson Howe. In 1861, as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Georgia, he organized the General Assembly of the newly formed Presbyterian Church in the United States, known as the Southern Presbyterian Church, and served as its clerk for 37 years.
McMillan Hall is a building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. Built in 1793, it is the only surviving building from Washington Academy. It is the eighth-oldest academic building in the United States that is still in use for its original academic purpose and is the oldest surviving college building west of the Allegheny Mountains.
The Clark Family Library, formerly U. Grant Miller Library is the academic library for Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pennsylvania. The library traces its origins back to a donation from Benjamin Franklin in 1789. The Archives and Special Collections contain significant holdings of historical papers dating to the college's founding. The Walker Room contains the personal library of prominent industrialist John Walker, complete with all of his library's fixtures and furniture, installed exactly how it had been during Walker's life.
Old Main is the main academic building at Washington & Jefferson College. It is the predominant building on campus and has served virtually every student since its construction. Its two identical towers, added in 1875, symbolize the union of Washington College and Jefferson College to form Washington & Jefferson College. The towers appear on the college seal, in a stylized version. The college fundraising operation founded "The Old Main Society" in 1996 to recognize individuals who utilize planned giving.
The history of Washington & Jefferson College begins with three log cabin colleges established by three frontier clergymen in the 1780s: John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith. The three men, all graduates from the College of New Jersey, came to present-day Washington County to plant churches and spread Presbyterianism to what was then the American frontier beyond the Appalachian Mountains. John McMillan, the most prominent of the three founders because of his strong personality and longevity, came to the area in 1775 and built his log cabin college in 1780 near his church in Chartiers. Thaddeus Dod, known as a keen scholar, built his log cabin college in Lower Ten Mile in 1781. Joseph Smith taught classical studies in his college, called "The Study" at Buffalo.
The First Presbyterian Church 1793, alternatively known as the First Presbyterian Church, is a Presbyterian church in Washington, Pennsylvania. It has been the de facto college church for Washington & Jefferson College since the early 19th century. It is under the Washington Presbytery.
The relationship between the City of Washington, Pennsylvania, and Washington & Jefferson College spans over two centuries, dating to the founding of both the city and the college in the 1780s. The relationship between the town and college were strong enough that the citizens of Washington offered the college a $50,000 donation in 1869 in a successful attempt to lure the Washington & Jefferson College trustees to select Washington over nearby Canonsburg as the consolidated location of the college. The relationship was strained through the latter half of the 20th century, however, as the college pursued an expansion policy that clashed with the residential neighborhood. The college's frustrations grew after preservationists unsuccessfully attempted to pass laws prohibiting the college from demolishing certain buildings that were listed on the East Washington Historic District. Relations were so bad that residents and college officials engaged in a shouting match at a meeting. Local preservationists also unsuccessfully tried to block the demolition of Hays Hall, which had been condemned.
John McMillan's Log School is a landmark log building in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania that was the site of John McMillan's frontier Latin school during the 1780s. It is a symbol of Canonsburg and Canonsburg's educational tradition. In 1930, The Pittsburgh Press said that the building was "viewed by the pioneers with even more reverence than Pittsburgh now view the towering Cathedral of Learning in Oakland." It is one of the oldest buildings in Western Pennsylvania. It is the "oldest educational building west of the Allegheny Mountains."
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