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THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



University Extension has for its object 

 the provision of " the means of higher educa- 

 tion for persons of all classes, and of both 

 sexes engaged in the regular occupations of 

 life." This movement commenced with the 

 University of Cambridge in 1872, and was 

 subsequently taken up by Oxford University, 

 the London Society for the extension of Uni- 

 versity Teaching, Dublin University, Owens 

 College, Manchester, the Scottish Universities, 

 the University of Sydney, New South Wales, 

 and the Chautauqua Home Reading Club in 

 the United States. In 1890 Cambridge, Ox- 

 ford, and the London Society had two hundred 

 and twenty-seven centers, seventy-nine lec- 

 turers, and 40,336 students attending lectures. 

 The lecture study system was organized in the 

 United States at the University of Pennsylva- 

 nia. Other institutions, notably the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago and the University of Wis- 

 consin, have engaged in the work, and many 

 centers for lectures and study in history, 

 science, art, and literature have been formed. 



Columbian University, Washington, 

 D. C., originated with the Rev. Luther Rice, 

 who, in 1819, with a number of associates, 

 paid $7,000 for a tract of land adjoining 

 the city of Washington, with the undei'stand- 

 ing that it should be held for higher educa- 

 tional purposes. John Quincy Adams, John C . 

 Calhoun, thirty-two members of Congress, and 

 leading citizens of Washington, were among 

 the contributors to this fund. A charter was 

 procured from Congres's in February, 1821, 

 during the presidency of James Monroe, 

 "erecting the Columbian College in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia." The construction of a 

 college building had been commenced in 1820, 

 and it was completed in 1822, at a cost of 

 135,000. Dr. Stoughton, a native of England, 

 and an eminent pulpit orator, was the first 

 president of the institution. Agents were 

 sent to Europe, and among the contributors to 

 the founding of the college were several Eng- 

 lishmen prominent in politics and literature, 

 including the chancellor of the exchequer and 

 Sir James Mackintosh, the historian. 



The first commencement of the college was 

 held December 15, 1824, and was attended by 

 the President of the United States and mem- 

 bers of both Houses of Congress and General 

 Lafayette ; a formal address of welcome being 

 made to General Lafayette by the president of 

 the college. Upon the conclusion of the ex- 

 ercises, General Lafayette and his suite, Secre- 

 tary John Quincy Adams, Secretary John C. 

 Calhoun, Henry Clay, and other distinguished 

 citizens dined with the faculty and board of 

 trustees at the house of President Stoughton. 



Dr. Stoughton resigned the presidency in 



1827, after a rather stormy period, during 

 which the college was at times greatly embar- 

 rassed for money, and in 1828 Rev. Steven 

 Chapin, D.D., was chosen his successor. The 

 presidents since that time have been : Rev. 

 Joel S. Bacon, D.D., elected 1843; Rev. 

 Joseph G. Binney, D.D., elected 1855; Rev. 

 George W. Samson, D.D., elected 1859 ; James 

 C. Welling, LL.D., elected 1871 ; Benaiah L. 

 Whitman, M.A., D.D., LL.D., elected 1895. 



March 3, 1873, Congress passed an act sup- 

 plemental to the organic act of 1821, provid- 

 ing that the corporation "shall hereafter be 

 known and called by the name of the Columbian 

 University." . In 1879 it was decided to remove 

 all departments of the University into the heart 

 of Washington, and in 1884 the present uni- 

 versity buildings, at the corner of 15th and II 

 streets, were occupied by the academic, law, 

 and scientific schools of the University. 



John Quincy Adams was among the earliest 

 friends of the college to lend aid during its 

 periods of financial need. He loaned it $18,- 

 000, apart of which debt he remitted. From 

 1835 to 1861 John Withers of Virginia made 

 frequent gifts to cancel debts, to repair build- 

 ings, and for general purposes, amounting in 

 the aggregate to nearly $70,000. In 1865 

 William W. Corcoran presented the college 

 with a building for its Medical School, valued 

 at $30, 000. His subsequent gifts have reached 

 about $150,000, in grateful memoiy of which 

 was established, in 1884, the Corcoran Scientific 

 School. 



The University comprises the following divi- 

 sions : The Columbian College, the Corcoran 

 Scientific School, the School of Graduate 

 Studies, the Law School, the School of .Juris- 

 prudence and Diplomacy, the Medical School, 

 the Dental School, the Graduate Veterinary 

 School, and the Summer School. 



In 1898, as an organic part of the University, 

 there was established a School of Comparative 

 Jurisprudence and Diplomacy, the first of that 

 character in the United States. Such a school 

 i had been a long cherished hope of the Univer- 

 sity authorities, and owed its germinal concep- 

 tion to a former president of the University, 

 James Clarke Welling. LL.D. The design of 

 the school is to afford a training in the sub- 

 jects of higher legal knowledge, comparative 

 government, applied economics, and the his- 

 tory, science, and practice of diplomacy. Two 

 courses are now given, leading respectively to 

 the degrees Doctor of Civil Law (D. C. L.) and 

 Master of Diplomacy (M. Dip.), depending 

 upon the emphasis awarded to jurisprudence 

 or diplomatic studies. The lecturers, together 

 with their assignment of subjects, are as fol- 

 lows : 



