Arizona State University was founded in 1885'27 years before statehood'as the Arizona Territorial Normal School. A modest school building was erected on donated pastureland outside Phoenix and was initially dedicated to training public school teachers. The school rapidly evolved through multiple name changes and grew to four campuses and from 33 to over 70,000 students. Currently, ASU is the largest public educational institution in the United States and is also an internationally recogniz...

A mix of cultures unique to any space in North America funneled into the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area after Spanish invaders stumbled in through the south in 1506. For centuries, indigenous Americans had established ways of knowing and transmitting learning to their young, but colliding old and new cultures left the area�s learning communities irrevocably changed. Subsequently, other native tribes and more European, South American, and Asian cultures proudly ported their perceived best pr...

An essential history of the modern research universityWhen universities began in the Middle Ages, Pope Gregory IX described them as "wisdom's special workshop." He could not have foreseen how far these institutions would travel and develop. Tracing the eight-hundred-year evolution of the elite research university from its roots in medieval Europe to its remarkable incarnation today, Wisdom's Workshop places this durable institution in sweeping historical p...

The history of York College of Pennsylvania begins shortly after the Revolutionary War. The college traces its lineage directly to three ancestral schools. The foundation was York County Academy, an English classical school chartered in 1787. The academy merged in 1929 with York Collegiate Institute, founded in 1873. Under one roof, both schools survived the Great Depression. In 1941, the charter was amended to allow two years of college-level courses and the institution became York Junior...

In 1979, a small art college with 71 students opened its doors in a renovated 19th-century building in the urban heart of colonial Savannah, Georgia. One of the most historic cities on the eastern seaboard, Savannah is noted for its architectural treasures, urban forest and verdant squares, and for the unique 1733 city plan designed by General Oglethorpe. The campus fabric of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) grew from the Romanesque revival Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory, de...

Founded in 1966, Genesee Community College (GCC) is the product of a grassroots movement that culminated in a public referendum supporting the creation of a community college. The resulting institution has exceeded the most optimistic predictions of its early proponents. From its beginning in a converted department store with 367 students, GCC, part of the State University of New York, has grown to over 7,000 students studying in more than 60 different programs. The college is spread over ...

In 1837, the people of Guyandotte, then a village on the Virginia frontier, resolved to open a school for their sons and daughters. Tradition says local lawyer John Laidley convinced his neighbors to name the school for his friend, Chief Justice John Marshall. The one-room log cabin that housed those first students soon gave way to a two-story brick building that, with various additions over the years, became the school's Old Main. For decades, the cherished landmark has stood like a proud...

Lycoming College, 1812-2012: On the Frontiers of American Education is the story of Lycoming College, a liberal arts and sciences college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The College is one of the fifty oldest institutions of higher education in the nation and the oldest that retains a relationship to the United Methodist Church. The College shares many characteristics with peer institutions which have retained the liberal arts and sciences as the basis of their academic programs. It also ha...

The University of Washington was founded in 1861, when Seattle was a tiny village. It struggled to survive during its early years, but after Washington achieved statehood in 1889, the university grew along with the region it served. A world's fair on its campus attracted international attention in 1909. A century later, the University of Washington is known worldwide for research and teaching in fields ranging from arts and sciences to health sciences and high technology. With three campus...

Begun 5 years rior t the start of the Civil Way, from a "cow college" to an internationally recognized academic, artistic, and athletic powerhouse in the 21st century, this is the story of the University of Maryland. Only 5 years before the start of the Civil War, the State of Maryland granted a charter for the creation of Maryland Agricultural College in 1856 and opened its doors to 34 eager young men in 1859. The college survived a disastrous fire in 1912, becoming the University of Mary...

Louisiana State University began in 1860 as a small, all-male military school near Pineville. The institution survived the Civil War, Reconstruction politics, and budgetary difficulties to become a nationally and internationally recognized leader in research and teaching. A devastating fire destroyed the campus in 1869, and the school moved to Baton Rouge, where it has remained. Successive moves to larger campuses in 1887 and 1925 created greater opportunities in academics, student life, a...

When George Lynn Cross arrived to teach botany at the University of Oklahoma in the summer of 1934, racial segregation was so strong in Norman that no African American dared remain within the city limits after sundown. Almost ten years later when Cross became president of the university, the full extent of Oklahoma’s segregation laws came sharply into focus.This book is President Cross’s story of the events leading to the desegregation of the University of Oklahoma in 1948, with th...