Queen's University - History

History

Queen's was a result of an outgrowth of educational initiatives planned by Presbyterians in the 1830s. A draft plan for the university was presented at a synod meeting in Kingston in 1839, with a modified bill introduced through the 13th Parliament of Upper Canada during a session in 1840. In 16 October 1841, a royal charter was issued through Queen Victoria. Queen's resulted from years of effort by Presbyterians of Upper Canada to found a college for the education of ministers in the growing colony and to instruct the youth in various branches of science and literature. They modelled the university after the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow. Classes began on 7 March 1842, in a small wood-frame house on the edge of the city with two professors and 15 students.

The college moved several times during its first eleven years, before settling in its present location. Prior to Canadian Confederation, the college was financially supported by the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, the Canadian government and private citizens. After Confederation the college faced ruin when the federal government withdrew its funding and the Commercial Bank of the Midland District collapsed, a disaster which cost Queen's two-thirds of its endowment. The college was rescued after Principal William Snodgrass and other officials created a fundraising campaign across Canada.

The risk of financial ruin continued to worry the administration until the final decade of the century. They actively considered leaving Kingston and merging with the University of Toronto as late as the 1880s. With the additional funds bequeathed from Queen's first major benefactor, Robert Sutherland, the college staved off financial failure and maintained its independence. Queen's was given university status on 17 May 1881. In 1883, Women's Medical College was founded at Queen's with a class of three. Theological Hall, completed in 1880, originally served as Queen's main building throughout the late 19th century.

In 1912, Queen's separated from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and changed its name to Queen's University at Kingston. Queen's Theological College remained in the control of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, until 1925, when it joined the United Church of Canada, where it remains today. The university faced another financial crisis during World War I, from a sharp drop in enrolment due to the military enlistment of students, staff, and faculty. A $1,000,000 fundraising drive and the armistice in 1918 saved the university. Approximately 1,500 students participated in the war and 187 died. Months before Canada joined World War II, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, came to Queen's to accept an honorary degree and, in a broadcast heard around the world, voiced the American policy of mutual alliance and friendship with Canada. During World War II, 2,917 graduates from Queen's served in the armed forces, suffering 164 fatalities. The Memorial Room in Memorial Hall of the John Deutsch University Centre lists those Queen's students who fell during the world wars.

Queen's grew quickly after the war, propelled by the expanding postwar economy and the demographic boom that peaked in the 1960s. From 1951 to 1961, enrolment increased from just over 2,000 students to more than 3,000. The university embarked on a building program, constructing five student residences in less than ten years. Following the reorganization of legal education in Ontario in the mid-1950s, Queen's Faculty of Law opened in 1957 in the newly built John A. Macdonald Hall. Other construction projects at Queen's in the 1950s included the construction of Richardson Hall to house Queen's administrative offices, and Dunning Hall. By the end of the 1960s, like many other universities in Canada, Queen's tripled its enrolment and greatly expanded its faculty, staff, and facilities, as a result of the baby boom and generous support from the public sector. By the mid-1970s, the number of full-time students had reached 10,000. Among the new facilities were three more residences and separate buildings for the Departments of Mathematics, Physics, Biology and Psychology, Social Sciences and the Humanities.

The period also saw the establishment at Queen's of Schools of Music, Public Administration (now part of Policy Studies), Rehabilitation Therapy, and Urban and Regional Planning. The establishment of the Faculty of Education in 1968 on land about a kilometre west of the university inaugurated the university's west campus.

Queen's celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary in 1991, and received a visit from Charles, Prince of Wales, and his then-wife, Diana, to mark the occasion. The Prince of Wales presented a replica of the 1841 Royal Charter granted by Queen Victoria, which had established the university; the replica is displayed in the John Deutsch University Centre. The first woman chancellor of Queen's University, Agnes Richardson Benidickson, was installed on 23 October 1980. In 1993, Queen's received Herstmonceux Castle as a donation from alumnus Alfred Bader. The castle is presently used by the university as the Bader International Study Centre.