The Curriculum Expands

In 1793, Massachusetts Magazine described a flourishing Dartmouth College with three faculty members: one each in history, languages, and natural philosophy. President John Wheelock, the successor to his father, also served as professor of history. More than a quarter of the College’s graduates had pursued religious vocations. With a durable undergraduate curriculum in place for humanities based courses, other fields, notably the sciences, would soon specialize and elaborate. How some professors taught changed little for more than a century. Recitation, rote memorization, and understanding of canonical texts were still at the center of learning. Little else was static.

In just more than a century, Dartmouth added professional schools in medicine (1797), engineering (1867), and business (1900). Each vocational school spoke to specialization and the growth of disciplines; they also participated in a unique dialogue between the professional education and the liberal arts at Dartmouth. Antebellum students and faculty also applied their critical capacities to public life. Beyond the campus green, students and faculty took up religious revivals, debated solutions to slavery, including abolition and colonization, addressed alcohol and temperance, and even adopted vegetarianism as a moral, physical, and spiritual good.

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“Commencement at Dartmouth.” Worcester Magazine ... Containing Politicks, Miscellanies, Poetry, and News, October 1786.

The scope and nature of instruction at Dartmouth College are clearly shown in a commencement from 1786 featuring oration and debate in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.

Books in the Woodward Library

A shelf of books reflecting the original holdings of Dartmouth’s library administered by Bezaleel Woodward, professor and first librarian.

John Smith, The New Hampshire Latin Grammar (Boston 1802)

A generation of Dartmouth students used Professor John Smith’s New Hampshire Latin Grammar published in 1802. Smith even sent a copy to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson thanked him, and added: “I am pleased with every effort to facilitate the acquisition of the Greek & Latin languages.”

George Ticknor, View of the Principal Buildings of Dartmouth College, 1803

An image of the college by George Ticknor 1807 presented to Dartmouth’s President John Wheelock in 1803. Ticknor later became Harvard's first professor of modern languages.

An Eighteenth-Century Orrery

An orrery is a mechanical model which depicts, and sometimes predicts, the relative position of the planets and the Earth and its moon. Collectively, astronomy and other emerging modern sciences were part of “Natural Philosophy” in Dartmouth’s curriculum.

“Course of Studies at Dartmouth College.” The Literary Tablet; or, a General Repository of Useful Entertainment; Consisting of Essays Original and Selected, in Poetry and Prose, September 25, 1805

An 1805 statement of the College's requirements, including its prescribed texts. Included are modern works of political thought by Montesquieu and Locke as well as Ancient texts.

“Agricultural Lectures at Dartmouth College.” New England Farmer, 1823

Professor James Freeman Dana opened his 1823 lecture on agriculture to "any gentleman or practical farmer" without charge, anticipating the link between post-Civil War public land-grant universities and agricultural outreach.

“An Epitome of Chymical Phylosophy, Being an Extended Syllabus of the Lectures on That Subject, Delivered at Dartmouth College, and Intended as a Text Book for Students.” Masonic Mirror: And Mechanics’ Intelligencer, March 18, 1826

In 1820 James Freeman Dana became Dartmouth's first professor of chemistry. Here, a positive review of his textbook for students, founded on Dana’s instruction and research.

“Dartmouth College.” Atkinson’s Casket or Gems of Literature, Wit & Sentiment, January 1833

A widely circulated nineteenth-century illustration of Dartmouth College.

Berry, A. “Letter from Dartmouth College.” The Graham Journal of Health and Longevity. Devoted to the Practical Illustration of the Science of Human Life, as Taught by Sylvester Graham and Others, May 2, 1837

Known as “Grahamism,”Sylvester Graham’s rigorous program prescribed cold-water baths and vegetarianism for good health. Here, an excerpt from an 1837 letter describes the popularity of the regimen with some Dartmouth students.

Erom. “Freedom, the Atmosphere of the Scholar.” The Dartmouth, June 1, 1840

Student authors often celebrated the life of the mind. Here, an author in the 1840s exercises his skills and learning to criticize the power of mere opinion and political party to undermine the republic.

“Popular Education.” The Dartmouth, March 1, 1841

An excerpt from a Skeptical of popular institutions of education, an anonymous student author presents a scathing indictment of the “People’s Literary Institute and Gymnasium” advertised at Pembroke, New Hampshire.

Crito. “Liberal Education.” The Dartmouth, June 1, 1842

In the 1840s, critical thinking was beginning to be prized as a part of a liberal education. Here, a timeless excerpt from Crito encourages students to observe personal introspection in the liberal arts.

Scientific Apparatus

A twentieth-century display of eighteenth-century scientific apparatus used in the pursuit of “natural philosophy.”

Medical School Buildings, 1860

A mid-nineteenth-century view of Dartmouth’s medical school; behind and to the right, the observatory. Liberal and professional education are embodied alongside each other in this image.