History of Bates College
The history of Bates College began shortly before Bates College's founding on March 16, 1855, in Lewiston, Maine. The college was founded by Oren Burbank Cheney and Benjamin Bates. Originating as a Free Will Baptist institution, it has since secularized and established a liberal arts curriculum. After the mysterious 1853 burning of Parsonsfield Seminary, Cheney wanted to create another seminary in a more central part of Maine: Lewiston, a then-booming industrial economy. He met with religious and political leaders in Topsham, to discuss the formation of such a school, recruiting much of the college's first trustees, most notably Ebenezer Knowlton. After a well-received speech by Cheney, the group successfully petitioned the Maine State Legislature to establish the Maine State Seminary. At its founding it was the first coeducational college in New England. Soon after it was established, donors stepped forward to finance the seminary, developing the school in an affluent residential district of Lewiston. The college struggled to finance its operations after the Panic of 1857, requiring extra capital to remain afloat. Cheney's political activities attracted Benjamin Bates, who was interested in fostering his business interests in Maine. Bates donated installments of tens of thousands of dollars to the college to bring it out of the crisis.
The school was renamed "Bates College" in his honor in 1863 and chartered the following year. The college sheltered run-away black slaves and graduated its first African American, Henry Wilkins Chandler, in 1874. The Cobb Divinity School and the Nichols Latin School became affiliated with the college in 1866. Although very few women enrolled at the college in its early days, the first women to graduate from a New England college was Mary Mitchell Birchall. In the early 1870s, Bates began its rivalry with Bowdoin College; however this was mainly student-based, as many faculty switched between the schools and the college shared trustees on occasion, such as Alonzo Garcelon and William Frye. Gridley J. F. Bryant constructed the college's first buildings, Hathorn Hall and Parker Hall. During the Civil War, Bates played an important role in advocating for the rights of African Americans and women. Many students at the college showed support for the Emancipation Proclamation, and were very vocal members in their respective communities regarding the freedom of African Americans, and general civil rights
The college went on to send one hundred and seventy-five students to the war, most famously Holman Melcher, Aaron Daggett, and James Porter. After the war, George Colby Chase became the first and only alumnus-president; he went on to establish the Outing Club, dismiss the college's first attempts at establishing secret societies, and created the Brooks Quimby Debate Council. The debate council's international success became linked with the college, contributing to its ensuing national prominence in U.S. higher education. In 1943, the V-12 Navy College Training Program was established seeing the enrollment of Robert F. Kennedy and the naming of a Victory Ship, the S.S. Bates Victory. Bates and Bowdoin joined Colby College to create the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium in 1964; this developed an already budding football and rowing rivalry. In 1970, the college completely secularized and built 22 new academic, residential and athletic facilities, including Pettengill Hall, the Residential Village, and the Bates College Coastal Center at Shortridge. In October 2002, Bates saw its first female president, Elaine Tuttle Hanson, ascend to the presidency to build "The Commons", and guide the college through the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. Vice President of Institutional Policy of Harvard University, Clayton Spencer, assumed the presidency in 2012 and led the college into a modern era by instituting new fields of study, breaking fundraising records, building new dorms and launching the $300 million "Bates+You" fundraising campaign.
19th century
Antebellum origins
While attending Parsonsfield Seminary, a Freewill Baptist divinity school, Oren Burbank Cheney lamented the racial segregation and religious oppression that was embedded in American educational institutions. He subsequently sought to create an educational institution that catered to everyone that required it; and that it would take the form of a rigorous and academically prominent school. In 1836, Cheney enrolled in Dartmouth College, due to Dartmouth's significant support of the abolitionist cause against slavery. Abolitionism would become a foundational aspect of the future Bates College. After graduating, Cheney was ordained a Baptist minister and began to establish himself as an educational and religious scholar.Burning of Parsonsfield
The Parsonsfield Seminary mysteriously burned down in 1853, at midnight. The overall account of the burning remains unclear with sources varying on the actual occurrences. When recounting its burning, Cheney, stated, "the bell tower flickered in flames while the children ran from its pillar-brick walls". The fire was believed to have killed three school children, and two fugitive slaves, leading to a brief and unsuccessful investigation, noted as an act of murder and arson. The reason as to why the Seminary burned down remains unclear, with opponents of abolitionism traditionally, but not definitively, held accountable. News of the burning caused Cheney to advocate for the building of a new seminary in another part of Maine.Maine State Seminary
The "Maine State Seminary" expanded to include liberal arts academics in 1855, making it one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Its founding made it the oldest coeducational college in the New England. Cheney met with religious and political leaders in Topsham, Maine, to discuss the formation of a school that catered to Free Will Baptists and was based on principles of egalitarianism, liberty, and scholarship. He began his speech by stating:We do not propose an Academy , but a school of higher order, between a college and an Academy. We shall petition the state legislature to suitably endow, as well as incorporate, such an institution. We know our claim is good and intend openly and manfully and we trust in a Christian spirit to press it. If we fail next winter, we shall try another legislature. If we fail on a second trial, we shall try a third and a fourth.The speech was well received and of the one required, twenty-four petitions were submitted to the Maine State Legislature. After minimal delay the charter was approved and appropriated with $15,000 for its conception. With Cheney's influence in the legislature, the Maine State Seminary was chartered on March 16, 1855, and implemented a liberal arts and theological curriculum, making it one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States.
Financial establishment
The campus ran parallel to Frye Street, an area that was part of an affluent residential district of Lewiston. Soon after establishment multiple donors, including members of the Boston elite, stepped forward to finance portions of the school, such as Seth Hathorn, who donated the first library and academic building, which was renamed Hathorn Hall. The college was affected by the financial panic of the later 1850s and required additional capital to stabilize endowment funds. Boston architect, Gridley J.F. Bryant, designed the college's first academic and residential buildings, Hathorn Hall and Parker Hall. The commission was notable as Bryant was the most prominent and most commissioned architect in Boston and usually reserved his skills for the banking and political elite of Boston and abroad. Charging prices considered by many as "ludicrously expensive," he offered his services at discounted prices for projects that possessed high personal or societal value. He found this trait in the school's advancement of abolitionism, of which he was a proponent. The Hathorn Hall project received high media coverage due to its relative obscurity in comparison with his most prominent projects such as the Massachusetts State House, and select buildings at Harvard College. File:Benjamin E Bates founder of Bates College.jpg|thumb|269x269px|A prominent member of the Boston elite, Benjamin Bates gave the college its founding capital. He belonged to a wealthy political and banking family.Benjamin Bates
Cheney's impact in Maine was noted by Boston business magnate Benjamin Bates who developed an interest in the college. Bates gave $100,000 in personal donations and overall contributions valued at $250,000 to the college. Benjamin Bates suggested to Cheney that the school be located in a more central part of Maine. Their previous business relations lead them to Lewiston Falls. At the time, Lewiston, Maine was one of the most profitable towns in the state and produced large amounts capital for the state and businesses. The school was renamed "Bates College" in his honor on 1863 and was chartered the following year on March 16.Cheney noted Bates' love for Lewiston and the college, stating:
I have frequently heard him say that he would not knowingly do anything against the interests of the people; and that he would sooner invest ten dollars in Lewiston than one dollar in any other place. 'I love Lewiston', 'I love the College'; he was accustomed to say, 'Say to the Trustees that I love the College.'
Founding date discrepancy
Most sources designate March 16, 1855 as the founding of the Maine State Seminary, which would later go on to be named "Bates College" in 1863. Other sources and a plaque on one of the college's buildings–Hathorn Hall–designates September 1, 1857 as the opening of the Maine State Seminary and August 23, 1863, as the opening of Bates College. The official accounts and most sources deem the charter date as its founding date since the Maine State Seminary received its charter from the Maine State Legislature on March 16, 1855. However, since the institution known as "Bates College" also charted, it has another "founding date": March 16, 1864. Through the early and mid 20th century, the official seal of the college designated March 16, 1864 as its founding date usually in the form of: "condita 1864" while others labeled its founding as 1863. This could have been due to the fact that there was growing resistance to seminaries in the area during this time and its founder wanted to separate the college from its founding seminary. In the early 1990s, Bates' president officially changed its founding date to its current one.Bates' former Cobb Divinity School was founded in Parsonsfield, Maine in 1840 as a graduate school of the Parsonsfield Seminary before moving to Dracut, Massachusetts, then Whitestown, next New York and finally New Hampton, New Hampshire before joining Bates in 1870 as a graduate school. On March 23, 1908, the divinity school merged with Bates religion department, so due to this merger, an 1840 date could also be proposed, since the divinity school was the older institution.