University of Maryland College Park - Terrapin / Reveille Yearbook (College Park, MD)

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History of the University of Maryland IN presenting the historical sketch of the University of Maryland, it is neces- sary to trace the history of two institutions. These were the old University of Maryland in Baltimore, and the Maryland State College, formerly the Maryland Agricultural College, in College Park. The beginning of the present university was in 1807, when a charter was granted to the College of Medicine of Maryland. A permanent home, estab- lished in 1814-15 by the erection of a building at Lombard and Greene Streets in Baltimore, is the oldest structure in America devoted to medical teaching. In 1812, the General Assembly of Maryland authorized the College of Medi- cine of Maryland to annex or constitute faculties of divinity, law, and arts and sciences , these to constitute an university under the title of the Uni- versity of Maryland. By authority of this act, a move was made in 1813 to establish a faculty of law , and in 1823, a school of law was opened. Sub- sequently, there were added a college of dentistry, a school of pharmacy, and a school of nursing. No significant change in the University occurred until 1920, more than a hundred years after its establishment. In 1856, prominent planters in the southern part of Maryland became interested in Von Liebig, the eminent German scientist. Thereupon, they determined to establish a school, where the sons of Maryland farmers could receive instruction along lines of scientific agriculture. In that year, an act to establish and endow an agricultural college in the state of Maryland was passed by the legislature, and the Maryland Agricultural College was chartered. At that time, no other institution of similar character existed in the United States, and it was the second agricultural college in the Western Hemisphere. The express purpose was defined to be to instruct the youthful students in those arts and sciences indispensible to successful agricultural pursuit. Under the charter thus granted to a party of public-spirited private individuals, the original college building was erected, and the doors opened to students in 1859. For several years the school was conducted as a private institution, but the financial disasters and general depression of the Civil War caused the college to appeal for aid to the State Legislature in 1866. This appeal was conceded after the acceptance of the terms of a grant under the Land Grant Act of 1862 , and thus the college was brought under the partial control of the State. The Maryland Agricultural College was a military school, and continued as such until 1914. The original barracks for the housing of students was completed in 1859, but other structures came slowly. In 1894, a new building was provided for library and gymnasium purposes. An administration build- ing was finished in 1904, and joined with the barracks by a covered bridge. On the night of November 29, 1912, these two buildings were completely de- stroyed by fire. Fortunately, the laboratories, shops, and greenhouses escaped the conflagration, and as only two recitation rooms were demolished, the in- stitution continued, comparatively uninterrupted. Following the fire, efforts Nineteen

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I • iu ■ 3fife sifc! CAMPUS BUILDINGS JUST BEFORE AND AFTER THK FIRE OF 1912 ightten

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W Vi MAINLAND A MILITARY SCHOOL 20 YEARS AGO Twenty