On Nov. 13, in a primal sort ofpilgrimage, Columbia Universityreturned to its origins in LowerManhattan. Faculty, alumni, stu-dents and staff joined with lead-ers and congregants of TrinityChurch Wall Street in markingthe 250th anniversary of thefounding of King’s College byroyal charter of King George IIin 1754. A civic service of com-memoration and anniversary lun-cheon celebrated Trinity’s role inthe birth of King’s College, colo-nial forebear of one of theworld’s great research universi-ties.

In opening the ceremony, Trin-ity’s Rector, the Reverend DanielPaul Matthews, invited cele-brants to take “a sacred pause, toreflect on the significance ofbeginnings and the importance ofhistory.” Among those reflectingwas Columbia President Lee C.Bollinger, who spoke of thebonds between the two institu-tions and their shared commit-ments to spiritual life, the searchfor truth and leadership in thecity. Expressing pride in Colum-bia’s role in building New York,Bollinger quipped that the Uni-versity had provided “everythingfrom the sewers to the mayors.”

Further perspectives camefrom Kenneth Jackson, presidentof the New-York Historical Soci-ety and the Jacques Barzun Pro-fessor in History and the SocialSciences at Columbia. Jackson isco-Chair of Columbia 250 alongwith Trustee Chair EmeritusHenry King, also in attendance.Jackson is currently a Trinityvestreyman and King has alsoserved on the Trinity vestry.

The story of the College’sfounding and early growth waselaborated by Robert M.McCaughey, Ann Whitney Olinprofessor of history at BarnardCollege. McCaughey has justpublished Stand Columbia, a sin-gle-volume interpretive historyof the University. As the TrinityChoir sang a medley of works byalumni Richard Rodgers, LorenzHart and Oscar Hammerstein II,even “My Funny Valentine,”sounded almost hymn-like in thelayered harmonies of thearrangement and the resonanceof the nave.

Matthews and Bollinger thenpresented to the City a plaquedesignating the site of the origi-nal campus of King’s College.Soon to be installed in the wallsurrounding Trinity’s church-yard, it replaces a plaque createdfor Columbia’s bicentennial in1954, which disappeared duringstudent protests in the early

1970s. Carl Weisbrod, Presidentof the Alliance for DowntownNew York, and LandmarksPreservation Commission ChairRobert Tierney received the newplaque on behalf of the City andextended congratulations to bothTrinity Church and its secularoffspring.

In a ribbon-cutting ceremonybefore the service, Trinity alsounveiled “The Birth of ColumbiaUniversity in Lower Manhat-tan,” an exhibition mounted out-doors on the church’s SouthPorch, steps away from thegrave of Alexander Hamilton,the most illustrious member ofthe King’s College student body.The exhibition closed on Nov.16.

Following the service (and awind-blasted walk down WallStreet to a nearby hotel), guestsattended a luncheon featuringremarks by Ric Burns. A Colum-bia alumnus and acclaimed docu-mentary filmmaker, Burnsspoke on the historical importanceof Lower Manhattan, the “engineof the city,” and “launching pad

for the modern world.”It was a day of welcome oppor-

tunities in a historic setting, achance for both Columbia andTrinity to celebrate a common her-itage older than the nation, and forColumbians to deepen their collec-tive self-understanding in the midstof the 250th anniversary year. Afterall, as President Bollinger said,“Everyone wants to know hisbirthplace, to see where he camefrom.”

For the full text of Ric Burns’remarks entitled, “Some Thoughtson Lower Manhattan on the Occa-sion of Columbia University’s250th Birthday,” visit the C250Website, at www.c250.colum-bia.edu

1705Queen Anne of England gives land on the west side of Manhattan known as

the Queen’s Farm to Trinity Church. The donated land, renamed the ChurchFarm, borders the Hudson River and spans what is now the area between Fultonand Christopher Streets.

1751The General Assembly of the Province of New York appoints ten trustees,

including seven members of the Vestry of Trinity Parish, to select a location fora new college. The trustees will administer funds that are generated by three lot-teries authorized by the assembly.

1752The Vestry of Trinity Parish agrees to donate part of the Church Farm as a site

for the new college.1754 MayTrinity Church sets as a condition for its land grant for the new college a

requirement that its president be a member of the Church of England and that allreligious services be consistent with the Anglican liturgy. The Rev. SamuelJohnson, a Colonial scholar and Anglican minister, is appointed its first presi-dent.

JulyClasses begin in the schoolhouse at Trinity Church, located on what is now

the south side of Rector Street, approximately midway between Broadway andTrinity Place.

Oct. 31Columbia University is founded as King’s College by royal charter of Eng-

land’s King George II. The charter stipulates the conditions of the Trinity Churchland grant.

1755Trinity Church presents King’s College with a parcel of land bordered by

Church Street, Barclay Street, Murray Street and the Hudson River, and inter-sected by Park Place.

1756 The cornerstone is laid for King’s College on the land granted by Trinity

Church.1760King George II of England dies; his grandson George III assumes the crown.King’s College relocates to its own building at Park Place, overlooking the

Hudson River, which will remain the institution’s home until 1857. 1763 Myles Cooper, a 28-year-old Oxford University-trained minister, is appointed

the second president of King’s College. Samuel Johnson retires to Connecticut,where he dies in 1772.

1775The American Revolution begins.The British ship Asia bombards the Battery, causing New Yorkers to fear for

their lives and homes.Pursued by angry Patriots, President Cooper flees King’s College for the

British frigate HMS Kingfisher. He is believed to have been partly responsiblefor pamphlets opposing resistance to the Crown.

Benjamin Moore (Kings College 1768), recently ordained an Anglican min-ister and tutor at the college, becomes acting president.

1776The Patriots briefly occupy King’s College as a military hospital. When the

British occupy Manhattan later in the year, they continue to use the college as ahospital.

On Sept. 21, a fire sweeps through New York City north to King’s College,destroying Trinity Church and Charity School. St. Paul’s Chapel is saved, butnearly 500 houses are burned down, leaving thousands of New Yorkers home-less.

1783 A peace treaty is signed between Great Britain and the United States.1784 King’s College reopens with a new charter and a new name: Columbia Col-

lege. John Jay (Kings College 1764) and Alexander Hamilton (Kings College1774-1775) are both instrumental in the college’s reopening. The new charterdeclares Columbia the “mother college” of the University of the State of NewYork, with Governor George Clinton as chancellor. The college’s governors arenow called regents, and the earlier requirements of the Trinity Church land grantare eliminated from the charter.

1787Anew charter vests Columbia’s governance in a self-perpetuating 24-member

board, which is re-designated “the Trustees of Columbia College in the City ofNew York.”

William Samuel Johnson, a lawyer and the son of the college’s first president,is elected the third president of Columbia. He assumes his duties after servingas a member of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, alongsideAlexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris. He is the second layman to pre-side over an American college.

1789Following his inauguration at Federal Hall, President George Washington

attends a Thanksgiving service presided over by Bishop Provost at St. Paul’sChapel, a chapel of the Parish of Trinity Church. President Washington and VicePresident John Adams attend the Columbia Commencement at St. Paul’s Chapelon May 7.

1790The second Trinity Church is consecrated on March 5.1801Benjamin Moore, rector of Trinity Church and bishop of New York, becomes

Columbia’s fifth president. 1804Alexander Hamilton dies of wounds received in a duel with Aaron Burr.

Hamilton attended King’s College from 1773 to 1775, when he left to join theContinental Army. He later served as Trustee of Columbia College, from whichhe received an honorary degree in 1788. Hamilton’s funeral at Trinity Churchwas widely attended. He was buried on the south side of the churchyard, wherea monument was erected in 1806.

1836John Watts dies and is buried in the family vault in the south side of Trinity’s

churchyard. Watts, a graduate and Trustee of King’s College, served as the lastRoyal recorder of New York from 1774 to 1777 and as a member of Congressfrom 1793 to 1795.

1857Columbia sells its Park Place campus and moves midtown, to 49th Street. and

Madison Avenue, the former site of the New York Deaf and Dumb Asylum. TheMain Hall of the College at Park Place, built in 1760, is demolished in May.

1897Columbia University moves to its present home in Morningside Heights. The

49th Street campus is sold and its buildings demolished.

“Everyone wants toknow his birthplace,to see where hecame from.”

President Bollinger

Timeline: The Birth of Columbia University inLower Manhattan

BY JERRY KISSLINGER

PHOTOS BY EILEEN BARROSO

Reverend Daniel Paul Matthews and President Bollinger presentedto the City a plaque designating the site of the original campus ofKing’s College.

4 C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y RECORD December 1, 2003

Columbia and Trinity Church Celebrate the 1754 Founding of Kings College

Timeline courtesy of the Archives Department of Trinity Church