Lawrence University history

Classes began on November 12, 1849 under the name Lawrence University.

The school was originally named Lawrence Institute of Wisconsin in its 1847 charter from the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, but the name was changed to Lawrence University before classes began in November 1849. Its oldest extant building, Main Hall, was built in 1853.

1863: Olympia Brown is the first woman to graduate from St Lawrence’s theological school.

1865: Mary Herrick and Sarah Sprague are the first women to graduate from what was then the University’s College of Letters and Sciences.

1869: One of St Lawrence’s oldest traditions, “Tree Holiday”, begins, giving students a day off of classes to transplant trees to campus.

The Lawrence Conservatory of Music, usually referred to as "the Con", was founded in 1874.

1876: Scarlet and brown are adopted as the school colors.

1888: St Lawrence’s first intercollegiate sports team—baseball—forms.

Ormsby Hall, built in 1889

Underwood Observatory, built in 1891

Milwaukee-Downer, named in honor of its trustee and benefactor, Jason Downer, was itself the product of a merger in 1895 between Milwaukee Female College and Downer College of Fox Lake.

Stephenson Hall of Science, built in 1898

1899: Amin Beder is the first student from overseas (modern-day Lebanon) to graduate from St Lawrence.

Alexander Gym I, built in 1901

1903: St Lawrence’s first women’s sports team—basketball—forms.

Carnegie Library, built in 1906

Peabody Hall of Music, built in 1909

Brokaw Hall, built in 1910

1911: The Hill News, St Lawrence’s student newspaper, is published for the first time.

Sage Hall, built in 1917

Memorial Chapel, built in 1918

1929: Nobel Prize-winning chemist Madame Marie Curie is the keynote speaker at the dedication of Hepburn Hall.

1933: Jeffrey Campbell is the first African American graduate of St Lawrence.

In 1935, he becomes the first Black Laurentian to be ordained as a Universalist minister by St Lawrence’s theological school.

1937: The Outing Club is founded, becoming the second oldest in the country behind Dartmouth College.

1951: The men’s hockey team hosts its first game in Appleton Arena.

Colman Hall, the first of 5 buildings constructed during the tenure of President Douglas Knight (1954-63), was constructed.

A place of great beauty and serenity, the estate was bequeathed to Lawrence University in 1963 by Donald and Winifred Boynton of Highland Park, Illinois.

1964: St Lawrence’s inaugural international study program begins in France.

1965: The University acquires the first unit of what is now known as the Canaras Conference Center in Upper Saranac Lake.

After a year of planning, the first Lawrence run off-campus program began in the summer of 1967 in Böennigheim, Germany.

By 1969 the center had moved to Eningen, Germany and Lawrence began offering additional off-campus experiences including seminars in Paris, Rome, Madrid, and a tour of Eastern Europe.

1978: “International House,” one of St Lawrence’s oldest theme communities and known on campus as “I-House”, opens for the first time.

1982: Students embark on the first ever Peak Weekend, originally dubbed “46er Day.”

1987: St Lawrence pilots the First-Year Program, one of the oldest living-learning programs in the country.

What would go on to claim the title "World's Largest Popsicle" in the 1990 edition of the Guinness Book of World records was created by Lawrence faculty, students and Boldt Construction and displayed at Appleton's Icescape winter festival.

After a fire heavily damaged the original lodge, a new larger building was built and opened in August 1996.

But in Belgrade on October 5, 2000, a state radio/television station was charged by a heavy-equipment machine, beginning a series of Colour Revolutions in Eastern Europe; and just like that, the posthistorical period of boredom was over.

In 2005, LU initiated a capital campaign called "More Light!", which aimed at raising $150 million.

2007: Johnson Hall of Science opens.

By October 2011 the college had raised $160,272,839, with the conclusion event held on October 28, 2011.

Within the past two years, the world saw Donald Trump goading Kim Jong-un with tweets about the size of his nuclear “button.” In late 2019, Putin announced that Russia has developed “invincible” hypersonic nuclear missiles capable of hitting virtually anywhere on the globe.