College History
The college was founded in 1847 as the Academy of Mount Saint Vincent, a school for women. It took its name from Saint Vincent de Paul, the 17th Century French priest who worked with the poor and founded the original Sisters of Charity, and from the geographic high point along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan known as McGowan's Pass. When New York City began acquiring land for Central Park in 1855, the school purchased the 70-acre (280,000 m2) "Fonthill," the estate of famed Shakespearean actor Edwin Forrest, in the Riverdale neighborhood in what has been called The Bronx since New York City's consolidation in 1898. The picturesque castle that was the centerpiece of Forrest's estate is still used as the College's Office of Admission and Financial Aid and forms the architectural symbol of the college. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
In 1911, the Academy became a degree-granting institution. In 1974, the College of Mount Saint Vincent became a co-educational institution as it began admitting men.
Over the past decade, the College of Mount Saint Vincent has grown to twice its former size. In 2006, the College and nearby Manhattan College decided to end a program under which they offered certain subjects jointly.
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—Helen Rowland (1875–1950)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)