Muhlenberg College - Ciarla Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

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'7 In March of the year 1864, the A11entown Seminary ceased to exist and was replaced hy a new institution, chartered hy the legislature of Pennsylvania, under the name of the Allentown Collegiate Institute and 1VIi1itary Academy. It was at this time that the institution made its first steps toward the grade of a college. The curriculum was enlarged, and even though the institute took a slight mititary air, it sti11 remained essentially a private classical school with The Reverend M. S. Hofford as president. The two availahle were Bachelor of Arts, granted after four years y, and Bachelor of Science, granted at the completion of three years of study. The institute continued to function until June of the year 1867, when it was closed after commencement exer- cises, held as usual at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. It had Iong heen a desire of many of the Lutheran clergy nd Iaymen in the vicinity of Allentown to have an institution where a young man might prepare himself for the ministry. This desire was further intensified when, on October 5, 1864, the Theological .Seminary in Philadelphia was established. Conse- quently, at the meeting of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, held at Lancaster in the year 1866, a committee of seven men, with the Reverend S. K. Brohst as chairman, was appointed to secure the l Sqinmllgl' I'-0 ,fp '

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8 UHLENBERG COLLEGE, the successor to tlie Allentovsm Seminary, resulted from a clesire for an institution of liiglier learning to loe situated close to the center of the spliere of inliuence of tlie Ministerium of Pennsyl- vania. The Seminary, founded in 1848 lay the Reverencl Christian R. Kessler of tlme Reformed Clrurclr, was succeecled lay tlie Allentown Collegiate Institute and Nlilitary Academy in 1864. I The Allentown Seminary was opened in tlie Livingstone Man- sion on May 1, 1848 uncler tlie principalsliip of the Reverend Kessler. The curriculum was originally designed to prepare men for tlle teaching profession, but was soon cliangecl to empliasize a classical eclucation. As a result of this change, attendance at tlie Seminary increased to an enrollment of 202, in 1854, and many men were refused aclmission because of laclc of accommoclations. gil.. iris arse M541 At tlie lieiglit of its prosperity on March 4, 1855, Reverencl Kessler cliecl, and was succeeded by tlie Reverend William M. Reynolds, D.D., of the Lutlieranclrurclr, who was in charge of the Qu I l Illlllltlllllllllll l Za as ui I 'mi ,,.,-,rSF :5 until 1857 when time Reverend William R. Hofford of Church became the principal. ' wpyw II slllllllull llllltlmuuh., . mhmx N mum .....,mmm,,,,. in un 1. -.n..:nlmnmIM 'lllltlllluun ,mtl - Milli. l

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collegiate buildings in Allentown for the use of the Lutheran Synod. To complete the task, a joint stoclc company was formed and a Board of Trustees elected by the cornpeny. Thus, the founda- tion for the new college was laid. The new Board of Trustees unanimously elected the Reverend Fredericlr A. Muhlenberg, D:D., as president of the new college, and at the suggestion of William H. Blumer, Esq., they named the institution Muhlenberg College, in honor of Henry Melcltoir Muhlenberg, the great pioneer of the Lutheran Church in America, a name honorable in Church and State. The property of the new college consisted of about five acres of land in the southeastern pert of the city of Allentown. It w s bounded by Walnut Street on the north, Fourth Street on the e , and Union Street on tlle soutlr, ancl was originally the property the Livingstones, relatives ofthe Allens, tl1e founclers of tlme which bears their name. The inauguration of the president and other members of faculty tool: place on Tuesday evening, September 5, 1867. rnoming after, recitations were loegun ancl Nlulllernlnerg was on its way to at successful continuance of There were one lrunclrecl ancl aca- I