Columbia University

Columbia University is a private university in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1754 as King's College and is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. It is widely regarded as one of the world's most prestigious institutions of higher learning.

History

Founded as King's College in 1754 under a royal charter granted by England's King George II, Columbia is the oldest institution of higher education in the state of New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States. Columbia has grown over time to comprise twenty schools and affiliated institutions.

Related Topics:
1754 - Royal charter - England - King George II - Higher education - New York - United States

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Park Place and Rockefeller Center

In July 1754, Samuel Johnson (1696-1772; not to be confused with his near-contemporary Dr. Johnson, the British lexicographer, 1709-1784) held the first classes in a new school house adjoining Trinity Church, located on what is now lower Broadway in Manhattan. There were eight students in the class. In 1767 King's College established the first American medical school to grant the MD degree.

Related Topics:
Dr. Johnson - Trinity Church - Broadway - Manhattan - 1767

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The American Revolutionary War brought the growth of the College to a halt, forcing a suspension of instruction in 1776 that lasted for eight years. Among the earliest students and trustees of King's College were John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States; Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury; Gouverneur Morris, the author of the final draft of the United States Constitution; and Robert R. Livingston, a member of the five-man committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. In 1784, the college reopened as Columbia College, reflecting the patriotic fervor which had inspired the nation's quest for independence.

Related Topics:
American Revolutionary War - 1776 - John Jay - Chief Justice of the United States - Alexander Hamilton - Secretary of the Treasury - Gouverneur Morris - United States Constitution - Robert R. Livingston - Declaration of Independence

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In 1849, the College moved from Park Place, near the present site of City Hall, to 49th Street and Madison Avenue, where it remained for the next fifty years. During the last half of the nineteenth century, Columbia rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. Columbia Law School was founded in 1858, and the country's first mining school, a precursor of today's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, was established in 1864. Barnard College for women became affiliated with Columbia in 1889; the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons came under the aegis of the University in 1891, followed by Teachers College in 1893.

Related Topics:
Madison Avenue - Columbia Law School - Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science - Barnard College - Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons - Teachers College

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The development of graduate faculties in political science, philosophy, and pure science established Columbia as one of the nation's earliest centers for graduate education.

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Morningside Heights

In 1896, the trustees officially authorized the use of yet another new name, Columbia University, and today the institution is officially known as "Columbia University in the City of New York." At the same time the campus was moved again from 49th Street to a more spacious campus in the Morningside Heights area of Manhattan.

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University president Seth Low moved Columbia out of the area that was to become Rockefeller Center to its present location in Morningside Heights.

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In 1902, New York newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer donated a substantial sum to the University for the founding of a school to teach journalism. The result was the 1912 opening of the Graduate School of Journalism-- the only journalism school in the Ivy League. The school is the administrator of the Pulitzer Prize and the duPont-Columbia Award in broadcast journalism.

Related Topics:
Joseph Pulitzer - Graduate School of Journalism - Pulitzer Prize - DuPont-Columbia Award

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Columbia Business School was added in the early 20th century. During the first half of the 20th Century Columbia and Harvard had the largest endowments in the country.

Related Topics:
Columbia Business School - 20th century - Harvard

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By the late 1930s, a Columbia student could study with the likes of Jacques Barzun, Paul Lazarsfeld, Mark Van Doren, Lionel Trilling, and I. I. Rabi. The University's graduates during this time were equally accomplished - for example, two alumni of Columbia's Law School, Charles Evans Hughes and Harlan Fiske Stone (who also held the position of Law School dean), served successively as Chief Justices of the United States. In the '50s, Dwight Eisenhower served as Columbia's president before becoming the President of the United States.

Related Topics:
1930s - Jacques Barzun - Paul Lazarsfeld - Mark Van Doren - Lionel Trilling - I. I. Rabi - Charles Evans Hughes - Harlan Fiske Stone - Dwight Eisenhower

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Research into the atom by faculty members I. I. Rabi, Enrico Fermi and Polykarp Kusch placed Columbia's Physics Department in the international spotlight in the 1940s after the first nuclear pile was built to start what would become the Manhattan Project.

Related Topics:
Enrico Fermi - Polykarp Kusch - 1940s - Manhattan Project

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In 1893 the Columbia University Press was founded in order to "promote the study of economic, historical, literary, scientific and other subjects; and to promote and encourage the publication of literary works embodying original research in such subjects." Among its publications are The Columbia Encyclopedia, first published in 1935, and The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, first published in 1952.

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Student demonstrations

Students protested in 1968 over the issue of whether Columbia would build its gymnasium in neighboring Morningside Park; this was seen by the protestors to be an act of aggression aimed at the Black residents of neighboring Harlem. For several days, students took over administration buildings, occupied classrooms, and demonstrated against the Columbia ROTC detachment. The protests came to a conclusion when the NYPD violently quashed the demonstrations. The episode is generally seen as marking the point where the student body's and administration's values appeared to diverge most sharply. Columbia ended up scrapping the plans for the controversial gym and built a subterranean physical fitness center under the north end of campus instead; this facility is in use today. The architectural plans drawn up for the abandoned Morningside Park gym project were eventually used at Princeton University to build Dillon Gym.

Related Topics:
Morningside Park - ROTC - NYPD - Princeton University

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Graduate Employee Unionization

In the Fall of 2000, a group of graduate teaching assistants, upset over conditions, decided to form a union, Graduate Student Employees United. They affiliated with UAW Local 2110. These workers expressed outrage over low wages, inadequate health care, inconsistent duties, and lack of voice in their workplace. By March 2001 a majority of teaching assistants at Columbia had signed cards calling for union recognition. Following months of opposition by Columbia administrators, the National Labor Relations Board granted teaching and research assistants a federally supervised election on the question of unionization. Immediately following this election, the university administration appealed, causing the ballots to be impounded. In July 2004, the NLRB reversed earlier precedent and ruled that graduate employees do not have a right to form unions under federal labor law. Consequently, the uncounted ballots have been destroyed.

Related Topics:
UAW - National Labor Relations Board

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Pro-union graduate employees have sought to pressure Columbia's administration to recognize their union in other ways. They have struck their work three times. In April 2002, they held a one-day strike calling for the NLRB-supervised election ballots to be counted. In April 2004, an indefinite strike lasted four weeks and disrupted numerous classes and finals at Columbia. In April 2005, a one week strike led to numerous class cancellations and disruptions.

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