University History

Founders Day will mark the 145th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. On that day in 1863, Governor John A. Andrew signed Senate Bill No. 156, creating    “… a body corporate, by the name of the Trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, the leading object of which shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, … to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote … liberal and practical education … in the several pursuits and professions of life…” In the nearly fifteen decades since that day, Massachusetts Agricultural College has grown into Massachusetts State College and then, in 1947, the University of Massachusetts, today  a five campus system.

The five pages below will offer you a taste of the first 125 years in the life of the University:

• Beginnings
• Adolescence
• "Old Aggie"
• Toward the University
• The University of Massachusetts

Credits
The content of these Web pages was adapted from a series of displays created for the 1988 celebration of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the University of Massachusetts. They were produced by the then Office of Humanities Programs in the Division of Continuing Education of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and were funded by a grant from the University President’s Office. Project Director: Kerry W. Buckley; Researcher: Robert J Wilson, III.