SEARCH | HOME| Collections | Primary Sources | History | What's New | Services | Contact us

University Archives and Records Center
University of Pennsylvania

Timeline of University History

1740 Trust formed to establish a Charity School in Philadelphia at Fourth and Arch Streets
1749 The Academy is founded, with Benjamin Franklin named its President.
1750 The Trustees of the Academy buy the building of the Charity school.
1751 Academy opens in January. Free Charity School opens in September
1755 College chartered with the Reverend William Smith as the Provost
1757 First College class is graduated
1765 Medical School established
1775 The Continental Congress attends Commencement
1778 Continental Congress meets in College Hall
1779 The College is taken over by the State of Pennsylvania and renamed the University of the State of Pennsylvania
1784 Louis XVI donates books to the University Library
1789 College of Philadelphia is reactivated
1790 Law lectures given by James Wilson, one of the four original Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court
1791 By an Act of Legislature, the University of the State of Pennsylvania and the College of Philadelphia, are united as the University of Pennsylvania
1802-1829 University occupies the House built for the President of the United States, purchased by the University in 1800
1813 The Philomathean Literary Society founded
1829-1872 University occupies two new buildings, at Ninth and Chestnut Streets, designed by William Strickland
1849 Delta Phi founded, the University's first Greek-letter fraternity
1850 Law School founded
1852 School of Engineering and Applied Science founded
1862 Penn Glee Club founded
1863 Scientific "Lazzaroni" under Professor Alexander Dallas Bache brings about foundation of the National Academy of Sciences
1870 Purchase of the Almshouse farm in West Philadelphia as the new site for the University, under Provost Charles Janeway Stillé
1872 Classes held in College Hall on the new campus in West Philadelphia.
Department of Science established
1873 Athletic Association founded
1876 First Pennsylvania intercollegiate football game. A team from Yale was the opponent
1878 School of Dental Medicine founded
1880 First Penn degree conferred on a woman
1881 Wharton School of Finance and Commerce founded
1882 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences founded
1884 School of Veterinary Medicine founded.
Pennsylvanian founded (later the Daily Pennsylvanian.)
1887 University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology founded
1888 Red & Blue magazine founded
1889 First earned Ph.D. awarded.
The Mask and Wig Club founded
1892 Wistar Institute founded
1893 Graduate School of Education founded
1896 The first Student Union Houston Hall opened
1900 Association of American Universities established, with the University as one of the fourteen founding members
1909 School of Social Work founded
1920 School of Fine Arts founded
1924 Moore School of Electrical Engineering founded
1930 Thomas Sovereign Gates named first President of the University
1932 Morris Arboretum
1933 College of Liberal Arts for Women founded
1935 School of Nursing founded
1946 ENIAC, the first all-electronic digital computer built
1952 Faculty Senate organized
1954 The Ivy League established, with the University as one of the eight founding members
1959 Annenberg School of Communications founded
1961 Hill House, women's residence hall, opens
1963 Institute of Contemporary Art founded
1971 Penn's first College House, Van Pelt, built
1972 Freshman seminar program begins. Affirmative Action program for women and minorities begins. Three scientists with the University ties receive Nobel Prizes
1974 Faculty of Arts and Sciences begun, combining the College, the College for Women, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Social Sciences departments of the Wharton School
1994 University inaugurates its first woman President, Judith Rodin. Rodin is a graduate of the College for Women, Class of 1966, the first University alumnus to be named President in 50 years

This list is an updated adaptation of the Chronology found in Martin Meyerson's and Dilys Pegler Winegrad's Gladly Learn and Gladly Teach, 1978.

SEARCH | HOME


Collections | Primary Sources | History | What's New | Services | Contact us
University Archives | University Records Center | Penn homepage