History
Eastern was founded in 1889 as the Willimantic State Normal School, an institution whose sole purpose was to train teachers. Thirteen female students attended classes on the third floor of the Willimantic Savings Institute during its first year; the first male student was not enrolled until four years later in 1893.
In 1890, the Town of Windham deeded 6 acres (24,000 m2) of land to the State of Connecticut. The state decided to use it as the new home for the Willimantic State Normal School, which was quickly outgrowing its space. Construction of a new, larger facility was completed in 1895. In September 1921, the school opened its first dormitory, Burr Hall, which is still in use today. In 1937, the Willimantic State Normal School, which had begun offering a four-year curriculum and granting Bachelor of Arts degrees, became Willimantic State Teachers College.
Shafer Hall, dedicated in November 1946, was built to replace the original Normal School building, which had been lost to fire in 1943. The college established its first graduate program (in education) in 1958. By 1967, the school had widened its focus and was renamed Eastern Connecticut State College to reflect its expanded curricula. In 1983, the school officially became Eastern Connecticut State University in recognition of its greater mission, as it offered an ever-expanding variety of undergraduate and graduate programs.
Read more about this topic: Eastern Connecticut State University
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In history an additional result is commonly produced by human actions beyond that which they aim at and obtain—that which they immediately recognize and desire. They gratify their own interest; but something further is thereby accomplished, latent in the actions in question, though not present to their consciousness, and not included in their design.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)