Most on campus know that Case Western Reserve University was formed from the federation of Western Reserve University and Case Institute of Technology in 1967. But how much do you know about those institutions and the others that are part of CWRU’s history? Throughout May, we will give a brief overview of the institutions that comprise what is now Case Western Reserve University.
Western Reserve College, a predecessor of Western Reserve University, was established in 1826. Industrialist Amasa Stone donated $500,000 (over $11 million today) to move the college from Hudson, Ohio, to where it is now in University Circle. As a result of the gift, the undergraduate college was named Adelbert College after Stone’s son, who had passed away.
In 1888, Adelbert College stopped admitting women, directing them instead to the newly created College for Women of Western Reserve University (which later was named Flora Stone Mather College for Women after Stone’s daughter). The two schools operated in tandem, often sharing facilities, materials and professors, for a decade before dividing more fully.
Adelbert College was one of three predecessors to today’s College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, along with the Flora Stone Mather College for Women and Cleveland College. The three schools were consolidated in 1972.
Adelbert Hall was one of the first buildings built to house Adelbert College, also funded through a gift from Stone. Many of the campus buildings bear his, his son’s or his daughter’s names because of the contributions they made to the growing Western Reserve University (Adelbert Hall, Amasa Stone Chapel, Mather Memorial Building, Mather House, Mather Dance Center and Flora Stone Mather Center for Women).
Read more about the university’s history at case.edu/about/history.html and follow The Daily throughout May to learn more about the other institutions that helped shape Case Western Reserve into the strong institution it is today.
More details are available in Beyond the Fence: A Social History of Case Western Reserve University by Richard E. Baznik. The book is available for purchase at Barnes and Noble University Bookstore.