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Penn in the 18th Century

Penn's first College years, 1754-1757:
Faculty of the College and Academy of Philadelphia

The College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) was chartered in 1755 and its first class graduated in 1757, but its roots lay in the Academy of Philadelphia, chartered in 1749 and opened for classes in 1751. William Smith, hired as Provost of the Academy in 1754, first reorganized the Academy curriculum and then, because of the demand for a degree-granting program, encouraged the establishment of the college.

The first College faculty members had all been professors or tutors in the Academy. During the early years of the College, there was some overlap between the College and the Academy. Professors sometimes taught in both the College and the Academy. Students in the Class of 1757 had often been advanced students in the Academy's Latin School before the establishment of the College; after the establishment of the College advanced students in the Academy continued to share some classes with College students. And some members of the Class of 1757 served as salaried tutors in the Academy while they were students in the College.

 

College Professors Francis Alison, Greek and Latin, 1755-1759 Theophilus Grew, Mathematics, 1755-1759 Paul Jackson, Greek and Latin, 1756-1758 Ebenezer Kinnersley, English and Oratory, 1755-1772 Provost William Smith, Ethics and Natural Philosophy, 1755-1791

Academy Professors Francis Alison, Master of the Latin School, 1752-1755 and Rector of the Academy, 1752-1759 William Cramer, Greek and Latin, 1755-1759 Theophilus Grew, Master of the Mathematics School, 1750-1755 Ebenezer Kinnersley, Master of the English School, 1753-1772 David James Dove, Professor of Greek and Latin, 1755-1759 William Smith, Professor of Ethics, 1754-1755

Tutors Thomas Barton, English, 1753-1754 James Constable, Writing, 1755-1757 Jacob Duché A.B. 1757, Greek and Latin, 1753-1754 Paul Jackson, Greek and Latin, 1752-1756 John Jones, English, 1751-1752 James Latta A.B. 1757, Latin, 1755-1759 Charles Thomson, Latin, 1751-1755 Hugh Williamson A.B. 1757, Latin, 1755-1758

More on Penn's first College experience, 1754-1757

Also see Penn in the Age of Franklin, a Web exhibit created jointly by the Penn University Archives and Library