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• 1 2020-01-30T16:08:26+00:00 200 Events in 200 Years: 1870s 12 This section provides detailed information about the university in the 1870s plain 2025-04-18T19:13:15+00:00 1870 Information was compiled by staff of the Case Western Reserve Archives, February 2006.

  1870

  The sophomore spoof of the Junior Exhibition upset many faculty members as this event was 1 of only 4 official public functions of Western Reserve College each year. At the Junior Exhibition, each member of the junior class delivered an oration and junior honors became public. The sophomores used the initials of the juniors and made fun of their oration topics.
  
  

  1871

  Earliest class composite photograph in the Archives is of the Western Reserve College class of 1871. Pictured are 8 of the 30 members during their freshman year, 1867/68.
  
  

  1872
  Carroll Cutler was inaugurated as Western Reserve College's fourth president.
   

  
  1873

  Resources available to Medical Department students included a library of several thousand volumes, leading medical journals, natural history specimens, and anatomical models.
  
  

  1874

  A Preparatory School was conducted under the authority of the trustees of Western Reserve College (and Adelbert College) for many years.
  
  

  1875

  The Washington Birthday celebration, led by the sophomore class, began with the firing of a 22-gun salute.
  
  

  1876
  Viola Smith Buell became the first woman to graduate from Western Reserve College, fifty years after its establishment.
   

  
  1877

  Military instruction began at Western Reserve College.
  
  

  1878

  Last known perpetual scholarship was sold by Western Reserve College. An individual would donate a required amount (it varied over time) and they and their heirs would receive free tuition in perpetuity. Pictured here is a certificate issued to a donor for 4 perpetual scholarships.
  
  

  1879

  After its fifth decade, Western Reserve College boasted 56 students, a faculty of 12, tuition of $30, and a new Modern Languages course of study which substituted French and German for Greek. Pictured is a listing of the entire College faculty.
  
  

• 1 2020-01-30T16:08:26+00:00 200 Events in 200 Years: 1840s 6 This section provides detailed information about the university in the 1840s plain 2025-04-18T18:42:12+00:00 1840 Information was compiled by staff of the Case Western Reserve Archives, February 2006. 1840

  About this time, compulsory manual labor was abandoned; however, voluntary manual labor continued. Pictured here is the manual labor shop after a fire. Students produced articles which were sold by the College. Part of the proceeds could be applied to the students' term bill.
  
  

  1841

  Alpha Delta Phi, the first fraternity at Western Reserve College, was established. Its founding members consisted of four seniors and two juniors.
  
  

  1842

  The early graduates received diplomas written in Latin. Since all students were required to study Latin, reading them was not a problem.
  
  

  1843

  The first classes were held by the Medical Department. Students had to contact each teacher to enroll in that teacher’s course, and pay a stated fee. Pictured is an example of the "admission ticket" required to enter the lecture hall.
  
  
  1844

  Expenses for the year at Western Reserve College included $30 for tuition and $1.50 for use of the library. Students were also expected to spend  $1.00 per cord of wood and to provide (besides books) their own furniture and lights.
  
  

  1845

  Concerning the admission of students: "No person shall be admitted to membership in the College until he has completed his fourteenth year; … Every person proposing to become a member of the College, shall present satisfactory testimonials of good moral character, and sustain before one or more of the Faculty an approved examination…."
  
  

  1846

  The annual Junior Exhibition featured student orations and music.
  
  

  1847

  Phi Beta Kappa established the first Ohio Chapter (Alpha) at Western Reserve College.
  
  

  1848

  The "public phase" of a $100,000 fundraising campaign for endowment was launched. "Unless the whole sum of $60,000 [remaining] shall be subscribed by…Jan. 1st, 1850, the effort fails, the whole labor is lost, and the suspension of the College seems inevitable."
  
  

  1849

  Before online catalogs and even before card catalogs, the holdings of the Western Reserve College library were recorded in printed pamphlets. The 1849 Catalogue of Books Belonging to the Library of Western Reserve College is the earliest in the Archives. Regular return days for borrowed books were the 1st, 5th, 9th, and last Saturdays each term. The regulations also state that "No books are to be taken out of town."