Hiram College history

He took two years away to complete his collegiate degree at Williams College, then returned in 1856 to become first a teacher, then principal of the Institute.

James A. Garfield, 20th United States president, was a student, English teacher, and, in 1857–60, principal of the institute.

Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y., opened in 1868 and was the first American university to be divided into colleges offering different degrees.

In 1870, one of Garfield's best friends and former students, Burke A. Hinsdale, was appointed Hiram's president.

When Johns Hopkins University opened in 1876, it was divided administratively into an undergraduate college and a graduate school.

But English universities founded after 1879—commonly called “red brick” universities—have no colleges.

Under Brown (1930-40), the faculty tested and approved the Intensive Study Plan, whereby students took only one course in each of five 7-week terms.

In 1931, shortly before Hiram celebrated the 100th anniversary of Garfield's birth, there was a debate in the community about changing the name of the school to Garfield College.

The College’s 100th anniversary in 1950 was celebrated with the dedication of Centennial Hall, a new dormitory for women.

The program became so popular that the Army Air Force sent a number of its cadets to Hiram College during World War II. The Intensive Study Plan made the college so well known that a Saturday Evening Post article in September 1954 called Hiram the "Happiest College in the Land."

The school celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2000.