A TIMELINE OF TRINITIANA SINCE 1823 - WEIRD TRINITY FACTS (WTF)

 

1823 - The inspiration for the Greek Revival buildings on the original Washington College campus was the University of Virginia.

1824 -  Classes for Washington College students began at 5am in the summer and 6am in the winter.

1824 - When Washington College started, it was possible to earn an "English diploma" by taking courses for at least 2 years without seeking a traditional degree.

1824 - On the eve of commencement, President Brownell would traditionally open up his home to host the annual president's "levee," a popular gala open to seniors, alumni and friends of the College. 

1824 - The oldest continuously active student group is the Chapel Singers founded in the College's very first academic year in 1824.  

1826 - The Washington College library in 1826 was second only to Harvard in size, yet considered more valuable. At the time, Harvard was already 190 years old.

1830 - The Very Reverend Edward Jones of Charleston, SC is awarded a degree, making the College the first in the state of Connecticut to award a degree to a black man. The College awarded a degree to a black man 7 years after its founding. It took Yale 156 years.

1840 - Tuition was $33, board was $85, and room rent was $19.50. 

1845 - At Washington College, it was considered a high offense to associate with expelled students, to possess a dirk or sword cane, or to be an actor or spectator at any theatrical entertainment while the College was in session 

1861 - Commander James Harman Ward was the first Union Naval Officer to be killed in action in the Civil War. The leader of the Potomac Flotilla, Ward died at Mathias Point, VA on June 27, 1861. Ward was a native of Hartford and had studied at Trinity. 

1864 - The start of the school year was delayed in 1864 because President Kerfoot was detained by Confederate soldiers as part of a prisoner exchange for the Rev. Hunter Boyd of Winchester, VA. 

1864 - The name Gallaudet is synonymous with education for the deaf today. Gallaudet College was founded in 1864 by Edward Miner Gallaudet '59 and his father. He served as its president for 46 years.

1869 - Freshmen started the ritual of "burying the football." The night after the freshmen-sophomore game, the ball was laid to rest in an elaborate mock funeral. (Beer ensued.)

1869 - The statue of Bishop Brownell and its 16-ft granite base spent its first nine years on the original campus.

1869 - Practical jokers tethered a cow inside President Jackson's classroom.

1872 - On March 3,1872, the trustees of Trinity voted 12-4 in favor of accepting the offer to sell the downtown campus to the City of Hartford. Among those opposed was former Governor James E. English. 109 years later, his grandson would be appointed the 16th president of Trinity College.

1876 - In November of 1876, Trinity faculty adopted a resolution forbidding singing on campus. The following Sunday, students refused to sing in Chapel.

1878 - The original gym was moved to the new campus. In 1922, it burned to the ground to the delight of students who considered it an eyesore.

1883 - The College colors officially changed to dark blue & old gold in 1883 with the tennis team. Trinity had previously been green & white.

1889 - Until 1889, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut was automatically the Dean of Faculty.

1895 - The City of Hartford resumes demolition of the rock ledge southwest of the campus. The use of dynamite damages campus buildings. 

1898 - Students burn King Alfonso XIII of Spain in effigy after the USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor.

1898 - The 600-ft north-south paved walkway known as the Long Walk did not exist until 1898. That's 20 years after Jarvis and Seabury were erected.

1899 - In March of 1899, four sophomores were suspended for hazing. When classmates circulated a petition denouncing the punishment, the entire class of 1901 was suspended for 6 weeks.

1900 - Irving Knott Baxter '99 sets world records for the High Jump and Pole Vault at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris.

1900 - In the Gilded Age, it was custom at Trinity to sing between speeches given at Commencement dinner. Songs included Auld Lang Syne, Lauriger, and Gaudeamus Igitur. 

1900 - Until 1900, Seabury housed the College museum and the biology department in what was called the Cabinet Room.

1900 - Trinity flew its flag at half-mast when there was news of any alumni death.

1901 - In the late 19th century and for more than half of the next century, the world's largest railway network and world's largest corporation was the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The annual budget of PRR was second only to the US government. Even today, PRR holds the record for longest consecutive dividends, with more than 100 consecutive annual payments. From 1935-1948 the president of PRR was Martin W. Clement '01. Oddly enough, as an undergraduate, Clement was in the infamous class punished for circulating a petition protesting the suspension of 4 classmates for hazing. As a result, the entire class of 1901was suspended for 6 weeks. 

1917 - By June of 1917, one-quarter of the student body had enlisted.

1918 - During WWI, a flag was suspended from Jarvis Towers to show how many Trinity men were serving. In all, 521 Trinity alumni and students served. 21 lost their lives. As the numbers grew, the design was changed to incorporate a "T."

1918 - Trinity becomes the first school to recognize Teddy Roosevelt's accomplishments as a naturalist and explorer.

1919 - President Flavel Luther started a tradition among Trinity presidents of leaving an envelope on his desk addressed: "To my successor in office with my compliments—it has often comforted me." Inside is a postcard from Richard's Restaurant in Philadelphia that says: "Life is simply one damn thing after another."

1919 - The 1919 Freshmen Rules prohibit first-year students from wearing corduroy or khaki clothing, as well as "loud haberdashery." 

1920 - In 1920, half the student body of 210 men held a job in school. 76 were not employed and 30 were "football men."

1922 - In a period spanning just 2 weeks, Trinity suffered 6 different suspicious fires on campus (7 fires according to the New York Times), culminating in the near complete destruction of Alumni Hall Gymnasium on February 18, 1922. Although gutted and roofless, Alumni Hall was rebuilt afterwards. (Coincidentally, the gym burned down yet again under circumstances described as "mysterious" some 45  years later.) Freshman George Mulligan '25  of Bergenfield, NJ was arrested and held overnight on circumstantial evidence, but was later released and never charged. It was reported that Mulligan was one of the first people at each of the locations after the fires started, and was unable to give a complete account of his whereabouts. In the aftermath, over a half a dozen men were questioned, but nobody was ever charged with the crime.

1921 - In the fall of 1921, 83% of the freshmen were first-generation college students.

1932 - Among the chauffeurs of President Ogilby was an ambitious scholarship student named Keith Funston '32. Funston would later become the 13th president of Trinity, followed by 16 years as the head of the NYSE.

1932 - By the end of March, 1932, funds to complete the Chapel were completely exhausted. To finish the 163-ft tower, the workmen donated their labor.

1932 - The Chapel uses no structural steel whatsoever. Its core is composed of 1,846,000 bricks.

1932 - Radios are banned from dormitories because they were deemed detrimental to study.

1934 - The College installs a 50-ft rifle range in the basement of Jarvis for the rifle club.

1940 - On November 3, 1940, President Ogilby held a service to honor the 500th anniversary of printing. On display was the first book printed in the US and the Gutenberg Bible, which was on loan from trustee John P. "Jack" Morgan, Jr..

1940 - In May of 1940, Trinity held its one and only International Cricket Day on the football field.

1943 - Under President Ogilby, Trinity builds 8 major new buildings in a span of 10 years.

1943 - Remsen Ogilby was president of Trinity from 1920-1943. He holds the distinction of longest serving president.

1945 - Of the 3,500 Trinity alumni, 1,450 served in WWII. 

1948 - In 1948, half the income Trinity received was from tuition under the G.I. Bill. In 1947, it was 2/3.

1951 - On September 11, 1951, Trinity students fired one of the cannons using blasting caps from a construction site along with silverware and assorted nuts and bolts. 

1954 - In the spring of 1954, the Trinity campus became "Ivy College" for 38 episodes of the CBS comedy series "Hall of Ivy" starring Ronald Colman. Students from co-ed Ivy College were extras from Trinity and the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing.

1960 - V-P Richard Nixon attended service at the Trinity Chapel days before his final debate against JFK.

1960 - Delta Phi abandons its national fraternity in protest over racist policies. The leader of the protest is sophomore George F. Will '62.

1966 - Samuel Kassow '66 (bearing a striking resemblance to Rock Hudson and Elvis) named a Woodrow Wilson National Fellow, along with Peter Atwood '66 and Robert Stepto '66.

1966 - In 1966, the student-to-faculty ratio was 9:1. This is the exact same ratio as today.

1969 - For almost 100 years, Trinity had a tradition called Bottle Night. One raucous night a year, freshmen hurled their bottles onto the Long Walk from Jarvis and Northam.

1969 - The short-lived Trinity Vassar Exchange Program ends abruptly after both schools made the leap to co-education. Trinity went co-ed first, followed by Vassar two months later. At the time, 33 Trinity men were studying at Vassar and 17 Vassar women were at Trinity.

1973 - On 1/24/73 the Trinity Coalition of Blacks held a sit-in at WRTC for increased representation in programming. After 4 hours, the WRTC board agreed to 10PM-3AM M-F and 12PM-3PM on Saturdays for a program entitled the "Black Experience."

1974 - Remote learning isn't new to Trinity. In 1974, Carolyn Cartland graduated after taking all of her classes by phone for 4 years. She visited campus just 12 times.  

1974 - On 2/28/74, a male streaker dashed through Cinestudio, disrupting a Saturday night viewing of Flash Gordon. Witnesses described the young man as wearing only a Nixon mask, white socks and athletic shoes.

1974 - In December of 1974, almost half of the student body went on a fast in recognition of worldwide hunger.

1987 - Stephanie Powers portrayed Frances Schreuder in the made-for-TV movie "At Mother's Request" about how she coerced her son to murder her father, Franklin Bradshaw. Her son was arrested in 1981 in his freshman year at Trinity.

1994 - When the attack submarine USS Hartford was commissioned in 1994, the Navy borrowed the Civil War cannons at Trinity from the original USS Hartford to display at the ceremonies at Groton.

2012 - Trinity holds the longest winning streak in college sports history. 252 consecutive matches and 13 national championships.