Hunter College

History

Hunter College has its origins in the nineteenth-century movement for normal school training which swept across the United States. Hunter descends from the Female Normal and High School (later renamed the Normal College of the City of New York), organized in New York City in 1870. Founded by Irish immigrant Thomas Hunter, who was president of the school during the first 37 years, it was originally an all-female school for training teachers. The school, which was housed in an armory and saddle store at Broadway and East Fourth Street in Manhattan, was open to all qualified women, irrespective of race, religion or ethnic background, which was incongruent to the prevailing admission practices of other schools during this era. Created by the New York State Legislature, Hunter was deemed the only approved institution for those seeking to teach in New York City during this time. The school incorporated an elementary and high school for gifted children, where students practiced teaching. In 1887, a kindergarten was established as well. (Today, the elementary school and high school still exist at a different location, and are now called the Hunter Campus Schools.)

Related Topics:
Normal school - United States - New York City - 1870 - Gifted children - 1887 - Kindergarten - Elementary school - High school

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During Thomas Hunter's tenure as president of the school, Hunter became known for its impartiality regarding race, religion, ethnicity, financial or political favoritism; its pursuit of higher education for women; its high entry requirements; and its rigorous academics. The college's student population quickly expanded, and the college subsequently moved uptown, into a new Gothic structure on Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue) between 68th and 69th Streets.

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In 1888 the school was incorporated as a college under the statutes of New York State, with the power to confer the degree of A.B. This led to the separation of the school into two "camps": the "Normals," who pursued a four-year course of study to become licensed teachers, and the "Academics," who sought non-teaching professions and the Bachelor of Arts degree. After 1902 when the "Normal" course of study was abolished, the "Academic" course became standard across the student body.

Related Topics:
1888 - A.B. - 1902

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In 1914 the Normal College became Hunter College in honor of its first president. At the same time, the college was experiencing a period of great expansion as increasing student enrollments necessitated more space. The college reacted by establishing branches in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. By 1920, Hunter College had the largest enrollment of women of any municipally financed college in the United States.

Related Topics:
1914 - Brooklyn - Queens - Staten Island - 1920

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The late 1930s saw the construction of Hunter College in the Bronx (later known as the Bronx Campus). During the Second World War, Hunter leased the Bronx Campus buildings to the United States Navy who used the facilities to train 95,000 women volunteers for military service as WAVES. When the Navy vacated the campus, the site was briefly occupied by the nascent United Nations, which held its first Security Council sessions at the Bronx Campus in 1946, giving the school an international profile.

Related Topics:
Second World War - United States Navy - WAVES - United Nations - 1946

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Hunter became the women's college of the municipal system, and in the 1950s, when City College became coeducational, Hunter started admitting men to its Bronx campus. In 1964, the Manhattan campus began admitting men also. The Bronx campus subsequently became Lehman College in 1968.

Related Topics:
1950s - City College - Coeducational - Bronx - 1964 - Manhattan - Lehman College

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The "open admissions" policy initiated in 1970 by the City University of New York opened the school's doors to historically underrepresented groups. Many African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Puerto Ricans, and students from the developing world made their presence felt at Hunter, and subsequently altered the composition of the school's student body. As a result of the addition of these "new" students, Hunter created programs in Black and Puerto Rican Studies, and opened new buildings on Lexington Avenue during the early 1980s.

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Today, Hunter College is a comprehensive teaching and research institution. Of the more than 20,000 students enrolled at Hunter, nearly 5,000 are enrolled in a graduate program, the most popular of which are education and social work. More than 50% of students are the first in their families to attend college. Finally, the college maintains its tradition of concern for women's education, with nearly three out of four students being female.

Related Topics:
Education - Social work

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The motto of Hunter College is "mihi cura futuri," meaning "the care of the future is mine." This was taken from book XIII of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Related Topics:
Ovid - Metamorphoses

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