University of Dayton - History

History

In 1849, Rev. Leo Meyer purchased the land for the future university from John Stuart with a medal of St. Joseph, and a promise of US$12,000 during a cholera epidemic. As a condition of purchase, Rev. Meyer promised to maintain the grave site of Stuart's daughter. The land, known then as Dewberry Farm, was 125 acres (0.5 km2) and was primarily vineyards and orchards.

In 1850 the university was founded as a day school and boarding school for boys called St. Mary's School for Boys, later St. Mary's Institute. In 1913, the city of Dayton suffered a massive flooding when the Great Miami River overflowed. The university responded by sending faculty, Marianist brothers, and students out in rowboats to rescue Dayton citizens. In 1920, to reflect UD's commitment to its community, it took its current name. In 1935, the University of Dayton began admitting women, making it the first coeducational Roman Catholic university in the United States. As of 2011, UD is the largest private university in Ohio.

Read more about this topic:  University Of Dayton

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “There is a history in all men’s lives,
    Figuring the natures of the times deceased,
    The which observed, a man may prophesy,
    With a near aim, of the main chance of things
    As yet not come to life.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “For a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.”
    —F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)

    “This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.”
    —Titus Livius (Livy)