“It is, Sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it!” (Daniel Webster)
The rolling hills and plentiful foliage of New Hampshire are home to over 20 colleges and universities. New Hampshire’s first school, founded seven years before the country, is Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution along the banks of the Connecticut River in the small town of Hanover. (Messier, SeaCoastOnLine)
Dartmouth’s first classes, consisting of just four students, were held in a single log hut in Hanover in 1770. (LOC) The college was named in honor of William Legge, the British Earl of Dartmouth, a friend of Wentworth’s and an important benefactor.
Dartmouth College has its origins in More’s (later Moor’s) Indian Charity School, an educational enterprise established in the year 1754 at Lebanon, Connecticut, by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, a minister of the Congregational faith and a graduate of Yale. (Christopher DeLuca)
“Wheelock … first founded a private ‘Latin’ school, aimed at educating both colonists and natives in the classics, including a young Samson Occom, a Mohegan who became trained as an excellent minister.”
“In time, Wheelock realized his passion, founding Moor’s Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut. The sole purpose of this small school was to prepare students to become Protestant missionaries, including Natives among their own tribes and colonists where Native numbers were lacking.”
“This school was open to male and female students of many ages and was free to attend, operating upon donations (both monetary and farm product-based). Despite English being the only language necessary to preach, Wheelock insisted upon teaching his pupils Latin, Greek, and Hebrew as well. “
“The Reverend also taught his charges farming and agricultural skills, despite complaints from some students’ parents, who were themselves farmers. Underlying the obvious paternal motivations behind these curricular choices, we can see the nucleus of what would become a liberal arts curriculum.” (Dartmouth Review)
“[T]he Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, of Lebanon, in the colony of Connecticut, in New England, aforesaid, now doctor in divinity, did, on or about the year of our Lord 1754, at his own expense, on his own estate and plantation, set on foot an Indian charity school …”
“… and for several years, through the assistance of well-disposed persons in America, clothed, maintained and educated a number of the children of the Indian natives, with a view to their carrying the Gospel, in their own language, and spreading the knowledge of the great Redeemer, among their savage tribes …”
“[T]he said Eleazar Wheelock thought it expedient, that endeavors should be used to raise contributions from well disposed persons in England for the carrying on and extending said undertaking …”
“… and for that purpose the said Eleazar Wheelock requested the Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker, now doctor in divinity, to go over to England for that purpose, and sent over with him the Rev. Samson Occom, an Indian minister, who had been educated by the said Wheelock.”
“… considering the premises and being willing to encourage the laudable and charitable design of spreading Christian knowledge among the savages of our American wilderness, and also that the best means of education be established in our province of New Hampshire, for the benefit of said province …”
“… do, of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, by and with the advice of our counsel for said province, by these presents, will, ordain, grant and constitute that there be a college erected in our said province of New Hampshire by the name of Dartmouth College …”
“… for the education and instruction of youth of the Indian tribes in this land in reading, writing, and all parts of learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and christianizing children of pagans, as well as in all liberal arts and sciences, and also of English youth and any others.” (Dartmouth Charter)
Fast forward … “Since 2012, the Native and Indigenous Pre-Orientation program has served incoming Indigenous students in their transition to Dartmouth.”
“As our community continues to grow, and increasingly represents more and more Indigenous communities, we are dedicated to building a Native and Indigenous Pre-Orientation program that meets the changing needs of Indigenous students.”
“The purpose of the Native and Indigenous Pre-Orientation is to connect incoming Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and Indigenous first year students with the key offices and resources that will guide and support them throughout college.”
“The Native American Program in collaboration with the Admissions Office, works with various campus partners to provide community-based resource structures and programs that holistically support our students, in their total academic, social, and emotional wellbeing.” (Dartmouth)
“Hōkūpa‘a is a student-led organization at Dartmouth greatly supported by the Native American Program (NAP). It was created by and for students who are from or are connected to the Pacific Islands.”
“‘Hōkūpa‘a,’ meaning ‘steadfast star,’ is the name of the North Star, Polaris, in the Hawaiian language. This particular star has great importance to traditional seafaring and navigation — Indigenous Islanders throughout the Pacific relied on this star to find their way about the ocean.”
“We bring light to the story behind the name Hōkūpa`a to reiterate our commitment to our pan-Pasifika family and our time-honored interconnectivity. Navigation, the ocean, and the stars are some of the main connecting forces of the Pacific Islands and its peoples. As an organization, Hōkūpaʻa aims to create a similar space for Pacific Islander students on Dartmouth’s campus.”
“The Dartmouth Lūʻau is an annual event that celebrates the existence and representation of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander identity on the Dartmouth campus. Since its initiation, the Dartmouth Lūʻau has brought together communities from across campus, as well as regionally, to celebrate, honor, educate, and share their Native heritage.” (Dartmouth)
The college as it stands today almost ceased to exist in the 1800s, when the state of New Hampshire attempted to change Dartmouth’s original charter to make it a state university.
The case of Dartmouth College vs. Woodward eventually worked its way up to the US Supreme Court, where Dartmouth College prevailed under the leadership of alumnus and lawyer Daniel Webster, who re-founded the college in 1819. (Messier, SeaCoastOnLne)
As of 2023 there were approximately 4,500 undergraduates and 2,200 graduate students enrolled in the four-year, private, liberal arts college.
The school has more than 40 undergraduate academic departments and programs in the arts and sciences. Dartmouth College is the home of one the nation’s oldest professional schools of engineering, the first graduate school of management, and one of the nation’s top medical schools. (LOC)
