UC-NRLF 
 
NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 COLLEGE CHARTERS 
 
 PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND 
 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 1910 
 
NOTES ON COLLEGE CHARTERS! 
 
 LIST OF COLLEGES ESTABLISHED IN UNITED STATES 
 PRIOR TO 1820. 
 
 The following are included in the notes: 
 "Harvard University, Mass. (1638) 
 * Yale University, Conn. ( 1 70 1 ) 
 
 University of Pennsylvania. (1740) 
 
 Princeton University, N. J. (1746) 
 
 Washington & Lee University, Va. (1 749) 
 
 Columbia University, N. Y. (1754) 
 
 Brown University, R. I. (1764). 
 
 Rutgers College, N. J. (1766) 
 
 Dartmouth College, N. H. (1769) 
 "Dickinson College, Pa. (1 783) 
 
 Williams College, Mass. (1793) 
 
 Bowdoin College, Maine. (1 794) 
 "Union College, N. Y. (1795) 
 
 Middlebury College, Vt. (1800) 
 "Hamilton College, N. Y. (1812) 
 
 The following are not included in the notes: 
 Hampton-Sidney College, Va. (1776). 
 Washington College, Md. (1783). 
 University of Nashville, Tenn. (1 785). 
 St. Johns College, Md. (1 789). 
 Georgetown University, D. C. (1791). 
 Greeneville & Tusculum College, Tenn. (1794). 
 Washington College, Tenn. (1 795). 
 Washington & Jefferson College, Pa. (1802). 
 Moravian College, Pa. ( 1 807). 
 Mount St. Mary's College, Md. (1808). 
 Allegheny College, Pa. (1813). 
 Colgate University, N. Y. (1819). 
 Maryville College, Tenn. (1819). 
 
 56304 
 
OTHER COLLEGES OF LATER DATE INCLUDED IN 
 THE NOTES. 
 
 *Amherst, Mass. (1821) 
 *Trinity, Conn. (1823) 
 *Wesleyan, Conn. (1831) 
 
 The * denotes that the college has an alumni representation on its 
 governing board. In the case of Harvard, Yale, and Amherst this 
 was secured to the alumni by transfer of such appointing power as 
 the charters of these institutions accorded to the State. In several 
 other colleges nominations to trusteeship are made by the alumni. 
 
 The above lists do not include colleges now maintained as state 
 institutions. 
 
 tPrepared by Thomas S. Barbour; read and approved by 
 George E. Horr; submitted as a Report to the Committee on 
 Charter Revision, February, 1910; subsequently submitted for ver- 
 ification to officials of the several colleges. 
 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY (1638) 
 
 Harvard College originated in action of the General Court or 
 Legislature of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1636, when 
 suffrage was restricted to members of the Colonial Church. In 
 1637 twelve of "the most eminent men of the Colony" were 
 appointed by the General Court "to take order for a college at 
 Newtowne" (Cambridge). In 1642 the general administration of 
 the college was committed to a Board of Overseers which included 
 "the Governor and magistrates of the Colony" and "the teaching 
 elders" of the six towns "next adjoining" the locality of the college. 
 
 The Board of Overseers having proved too large for effectiveness, 
 a charter was granted in 1 650, twelve years after the founding of the 
 college, by which the college was made a Corporation under the 
 name "President and Fellows of Harvard College." The Corpo- 
 ration included the president, five fellows and a treasurer, and was 
 self-perpetuating. It was provided "that all orders and by-laws 
 of the Corporation shall have the consent of the overseers." 
 
 After the War of the Revolution, in 1 780, when the constitution 
 of the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts was framed, articles 
 were introduced "securing to the president and fellows of Harvard 
 College the perpetual enjoyment of all their vested rights and 
 powers" and " providing for " the organization of the Board of 
 Overseers. From the outset the Corporation was held to be free 
 from control by the civil power except as this was exercised by the 
 Board of Overseers who continued, ex-officio, representative of the 
 State and of the Congregational churches, which, after extension of 
 the civil suffrage under the charter of King William in 1692, 
 were separated from the colonial organization. The Board of 
 Overseers, thus composed originally of representatives of the State, 
 was from the outset subject to legislative control. The constitution 
 of 1 780, in the article relating to overseers, provided that all power 
 of control resident in the colonial legislature should be recognized 
 as transferred to the legislature of the Commonwealth, and that 
 nothing in the provisions of the act should be so construed as to 
 prevent the legislature from exercising such power as it deemed 
 conducive to the advantage of the University. 
 
 In 1810, by action of the legislature, the Board of Overseers was 
 made mainly elective, instead of ex-officio. It was provided that, 
 
in addition to the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and Councillors, 
 the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, fifteen 
 ministers of Congregational churches, and fifteen laymen, all 
 resident in the State, should be chosen by ballots of the Overseers. 
 It was provided that this act should take effect when ratified 
 by the Overseers and the Corporation. 
 
 Two years later, in 1812, the act of 1810 was repealed by the 
 legislature. This action was strongly resisted by the Corporation 
 which urged that its inviolable rights were invaded by any change 
 made without its consent in the constitution of the body to whose 
 control it was subject. The protest of the Corporation prevailed, 
 and in 1814 the act of 1812 was repealed and the act of 1810 
 again became operative. A provision prevailing prior to 1810 
 was restored, that members of the Senate of the Commonwealth 
 should be members of the Board of Overseers. All changes made 
 since 181 4 by the legislature have been made with the concurrence 
 of the governing boards of the institution. 
 
 In 1834, when the denominational restrictions in the choice of 
 overseers was removed, membership in the Board of Overseers was 
 opened "to all denominations of Christians." In 1851 provision 
 was made for the grouping of the members of this board into six 
 classes to be chosen by the legislature for a service of five years each. 
 In 1865 organic connection between the college and State ceased 
 in the passage of an act by which vacancies in the Board of Over- 
 seers were to be filled by the alumni of the college. In 1880 
 residents of other States were made eligible to appointment. 
 
 The Board of Overseers now consists of thirty members divided 
 into six classes and chosen by the alumni. The Corporation 
 continues in its original form, acting under the original charter of 
 1650 confirmed by the special section embodied in 1780 in the 
 constitution of the State. 
 
 YALE UNIVERSITY (1701). 
 
 Yale College, like Harvard, originated as a feature of the 
 colonial life. It was, however, unlike Harvard in that at the date 
 of its founding civil suffrage was no longer restricted to church 
 members. The original charter, granted by the General Assembly 
 
of the Colony of Connecticut in 1 70 1 , contemplated a collegiate 
 school, which at the first was established for a time in Saybrook, 
 Connecticut. Ten ministers of the colony, chosen apparently by 
 their fellow ministers with the general consent of the people, were 
 empowered as trustees to carry on the school " within his Majesty's 
 Colony of Connecticut, " and to perpetuate their own body. By 
 an additional act in 1 723, the "Rector" of the school was made a 
 trustee ex-officio. In 1 745 the present charter was granted by the 
 General Assembly. This charter reviews the action granting the 
 preceding charters and recognizes the existing board of eleven 
 members with the provision that "they and their successors shall and 
 may elect and appoint a president or fellow in the room and place 
 of any who may die." 
 
 In 1 763 an attempt was made to secure by action of the Legis- 
 lature appointment of a body of Overseers for control of the work of 
 the Trustees. The effort was successfully resisted as an invasion of 
 the chartered rights of the college. But in 1 792, a grant of money 
 was proffered by the State and was accepted upon the condition, 
 "that the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and six senior assistants 
 in the Council of this State" should be added to the Board of 
 Trustees, constituting with them a single corporation. This 
 proposition, apparently after much debate, was accepted by the 
 college. In accepting it the college secured from the State an act by 
 which self-perpetuating power was continued to the original group 
 of Trustees, and this was now definitely declared to be perpetual. 
 "In case of vacancy, by the death, or resignation of any of the 
 present Fellows of said college, and their successors, or in any other 
 way, every such vacancy shall forever hereafter be supplied by 
 them, and their successors, by election..." 
 
 At a later time, six senior members of the Senate of the State 
 were substituted for the six senior members of the Council in 
 the group of trustees added to the body in 1792. In 1872, by 
 request of the Corporation, an act was passed providing for the 
 substitution of representatives chosen by the alumni in the place of 
 the six Senators of the State. 
 
 The Corporation is now composed of nineteen members com- 
 prising (1 ) a self-perpetuating group the president and ten Fellows 
 
who are officially known as "Successors of the Original Trustees," 
 (2) six members elected by the alumni from graduates of five years' 
 standing, who serve for a term of six years each, (3) the Governor 
 and Lieutenant-Governor ex-officiis. The entire Corporation acts 
 in the choice of the president of the University, though not acting 
 in the election of the other ten fellows included in the self-perpet- 
 uating group. 
 
 An official of the college writes, "There is no denominational 
 name in the charter or any of the official legislative documents re- 
 garding Yale. As a matter of fact, the Successors of the "Original 
 Trustees," until comparatively recently, were all Congregational 
 ministers of Connecticut. This was because the Original Trustees 
 were Congregational ministers, they being the only clergymen in 
 the State at the time, and naturally the leaders in education. At 
 present two of the Successors of the Original Trustees are laymen, 
 and one is not a Congregationalist. Yale has always been 
 legally an entirely undenominational institution, but it has never 
 forgotten, and it is to be hoped never will forget, the obligation 
 which it is under to the Congregational ministers of Connecticut, 
 to whom its strength in its early days was mainly due." 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (1740). 
 
 In 1749 twenty-four "public spirited citizens" of Philadelphia 
 associated themselves for the purpose of establishing an academy, 
 thereby "laying a foundation for posterity to erect a seminary of 
 learning more extensive and suitable to their future circumstance." 
 A building constructed under a trust established in 1740 and 
 intended for use as a "charity school and a house of public worship" 
 was conveyed to them, and the academy was opened in 1 750. 
 Two years later a charter was secured from Thomas Penn and 
 Richard Penn, proprietaries and governors-in-chief of the province 
 of Pennsylvania. Twenty-four Trustees were created who with 
 "such others as shall be from time to time chosen, nominated or 
 Delected in their place and stead shall be one corporation" "to have 
 continuance forever" by the name of the "Trustees of the Academy 
 and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania." 
 
 8 
 
After two years the proprietaries were asked to convert the 
 academy into a college. Authority was given to the Trustees of 
 the academy to organize the institution. Later (1761-1764) 
 funds were raised in England for an endowment for the college. 
 
 In 1 764 a letter was received by the Trustees from the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, Thomas and Richard Perm, and others, 
 advising them as to their future procedure. This letter, after stating 
 that the institution was originally founded and carried on for the 
 benefit of a mixed body of people and that its faculty represented 
 several Christian communions, advised that, as jealousies had arisen 
 lest the foundation should be narrowed and some party exclude the 
 rest or one be put on a worse footing than others, "a fundamental 
 rule or declaration be adopted as a safeguard against this danger." 
 The Trustees adopted a statement declaring that they would "keep 
 this plan closely in their view and use their utmost endeavors that 
 the same be not narrowed nor the members of the Church of Eng- 
 land or those dissenting from them," (in future election of members 
 to the offices mentioned in the letter) "be put on any worse footing 
 in this seminary than they were at the time of obtaining the royal 
 brief." 
 
 In 1779 this resolution was construed by the Legislature as a 
 narrowing of the foundation of the institution and was made a 
 pretext for confiscating all rights and properties of the college 
 which were given to a new organization "Trustees of the University 
 of the State of Pennsylvania." Ten years later these rights and 
 properties were restored. In 1 79 1 an act was passed amalgamating 
 the old college with the new university under the name "The 
 University of Pennsylvania." Each of the Boards was to elect 
 twelve persons who with the Governor as president should consti- 
 tute the new Corporation. 
 
 Since 1 79 1 no change has been made in the Constitution of 
 the Corporation or in the Charter of the University. 
 
 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY (1746). 
 
 Princeton University, known until 1896 as the College of New 
 Jersey, was founded by members of the Presbytery of New 
 York which then included New Jersey. Chartered by the 
 
Province of New Jersey in 1 746, the college was opened at 
 Elizabethtown in 1 747. No copy of the original charter is 
 recorded, but from an official summary published in the Pennsyl- 
 vania Gazette and the Pennsylvania Journal in 1 747 it appears 
 that the Board of Trustees consisted of twelve members, (three 
 laymen and nine Presbyterian ministers) with power of "perpetual 
 succession to continue forever," and also power to make any laws, 
 etc., for the government of the college not repugnant to the statutes 
 of the realm and the laws of the Province, "provided, that no 
 person be debarred any of the privileges of the said college on 
 account of any speculative principles of religion; but those of 
 every religious profession" to have "equal privilege and advantage 
 of education in the said college." No denominational restriction 
 was placed upon the Trustees. 
 
 In 1 748 a new charter was granted, increasing the possible 
 number of trustees to twenty-three, the Governor of the Province 
 to be included ex-offido. The college then was removed to 
 Newark and in 1 757 to Princeton. The new charter gave the 
 Trustees power to fill vacancies "so that the whole number of 
 Trustees exceed not twenty-three," and it provided that the 
 Corporation "may have perpetual succession and continue forever." 
 In this charter also no religious test or denominational restriction 
 of any kind was required, nor was any proportion between lay 
 and clerical trustees specified. Of the original trustees under this 
 charter eleven (including the Governor) were laymen, and twelve 
 were Presbyterian ministers. Among the laymen were represented 
 the Presbyterian, Episcopal and Quaker denominations. 
 
 Changes in the charter, or acts of legislature affecting consti- 
 tution of all colleges in the State appear in 1780, 1781, 1786, 
 1796, 1799, 1864, 1866, 1868, 1889, 1894, 1896, 1901 and 
 1905. 
 
 The changes relate to the number constituting a quorum, to 
 extension of the limit of property holdings and to increase in the 
 number of Trustees, which was twelve in 1 746, and twenty-three 
 in 1 748; in 1 868 the number was increased to twenty-seven, and 
 in 1901, by a general act of the legislature applying to all colleges 
 in the State, was made subject to the will of the governing body. 
 
 10 
 
The Board of trustees consists now (1910) of the Governor of 
 the State, the President of the University, twenty-five life trustees 
 who fill their own vacancies, and five alumni trustees, the latter 
 elected one each year by the alumni of the University for a term 
 of five years and eligible to re-election. 
 
 Except for the ex-officio membership of the Governor of the 
 State in the Board of Trustees, the University has no connection 
 with the State. 
 
 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY (1749). 
 
 Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, grew out 
 of an institution known at first as Augusta Academy. The Charter 
 of the college dates from 1782. In 1796 gifts of valuable stock 
 were made by General Washington, which were changed by the 
 Legislature into an interest-bearing fund of $50,000, the name 
 being changed to Washington College. In 1865 General Robert 
 E. Lee became President, and after his death, in 1870, the 
 institution received its present name. The records furnished by the 
 officers of the college do not give the provisions of the original 
 charter. 
 
 In January, 1 876, an act was passed by the Virginia Legislature 
 modifying the charter. A group of fifteen trustees was continued 
 with the provision that they and their successors should fill vacancies 
 so that their number "shall not exceed fifteen." It was provided 
 further that "They may associate with themselves such other 
 persons as associate Trustees not exceeding nine in number" as 
 they might deem advisable, who should be elected "in such 
 manner and for such term and shall have such qualifications" as 
 the Board of Trustees should prescribe. The act was to be in 
 force after its acceptance by a majority of the Trustees. 
 
 The act of the General Assembly was adopted by the Trustees 
 with provision for appointment by the Board of three Associate 
 Trustees who were to hold their office for three years under 
 election by the Board, not more than one being a resident of any 
 one State and the choice being confined so far as practicable to 
 the alumni of the University. 
 
 11 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (1754). 
 
 The institution was originally chartered by King George II. in 
 1754, under the name "The Governors of the College of the 
 Province of New York in the City of New York in America" and 
 was popularly known as "King's College." The movement origi- 
 nated in action of the General Assembly of the Colony in 1 746, 
 which authorized the opening of a lottery whose proceeds should 
 be held for the purpose of "founding a college for the education 
 of youth in such manner as should thereafter be directed by the 
 Governor, Council and General Assembly." 
 
 The charter approved the acceptance of a "parcel of ground" 
 given as a site for the college by the body now known as "Trinity 
 Church." It constituted a group of Trustees which included the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lieutenant-Governor of the 
 Province of New York, and others in civil and ecclesiastical 
 positions among whom were the Rector of Trinity Church and 
 the ministers of the "Reformed Protestant Dutch Church," the 
 "Lutheran Church," the "French Church," the "Presbyterian 
 Congregation," to whom were to be added the president of the 
 the college and twenty-four other persons. The Trustees were 
 given power to elect a president who should be "in communion 
 with the Church of England" and to elect successors to their 
 number in so far as these did not hold their membership by virtue of 
 their official or ecclesiastical position. The charter provided that 
 no person should be excluded from the College on account of his 
 religious views. 
 
 In 1784, after the interruptions suffered during the War of the 
 Revolution, "The Regents of the University of the State of New 
 York" were incorporated, and the control of the college was vested 
 in this corporation, the name of the institution being changed to 
 "Columbia College." 
 
 The Governor and other leading officials of the State were con- 
 stituted perpetual Regents by virtue of their offices, other Regents to 
 the number of twenty-four being created and provision being made 
 that "the clergy of each of the religious denominations" of the State 
 might name an additional Regent. Vacancies were to be filled by 
 the Governor of the State with the consent of the Council. In 
 
 12 
 
this charter no limitation appears as to the religious connection of 
 the President. 
 
 In 1 787 the management of the property of the college was 
 restored to an independent Board of Trustees, and all provisions for 
 representation of official or other positions were eliminated from 
 the Charter. A group of twenty-nine trustees was constituted 
 with the provision that, when by death or resignation the number 
 should be reduced to twenty-four, these should continue as trustees 
 with self-perpetuating power. In 1810 a new act "relative to 
 Columbia College in the State of New York" repeals the act of 
 1787 and names a group of twenty-four trustees with self-per- 
 petuating power. The act provides that the ordinances and by- 
 laws of the Corporation shall not make the religious tenets of any 
 person a condition of admission to any privilege or office in the 
 college. "A majority of the Trustees have usually been members 
 of the Episcopal Church but the College has never been sectarian 
 in its teaching or in its appointments." 
 
 Since 1810 amendments have related to incidental matters of 
 convenience, to the holding of real estate, the establishing of a 
 Museum and Arboretum in Bronx Park, and the union of the College 
 of Physicians and Surgeons with the Trustees of Columbia College. 
 
 BROWN UNIVERSITY (1764). 
 
 "In 1 762, the Philadelphia Baptist Association, in view of the 
 disabilities attaching to Baptist students in most of the existing 
 American colleges, welcomed a proposal offered by the Rev. Mor- 
 gan Edwards, a clergyman of Welsh birth, at that time pastor of 
 the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, to found a college in 
 Rhode Island." James Manning, who had just been graduated 
 from Princeton, was appointed by the Association as its agent 
 in realizing this aim. 
 
 In 1764 a charter was secured from the General Assembly of 
 Rhode Island. The denominational relation of the college was 
 secured through the constitution of the governing boards. But 
 the charter "enacted and declared that into this liberal and 
 catholic institution shall never be admitted any religious tests : 
 But, on the contrary, all the members hereof shall forever enjoy 
 
 13 
 
full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience: And 
 that the places of Professors, Tutors, and all other Officers, the 
 President alone excepted, shall be free and open for all denomina- 
 tions of Protestants : And that youth of all religious denomina- 
 tions shall and may be freely admitted to the equal advantages, 
 emoluments and honors of the College or University; and shall 
 receive a like, fair, generous, and equal treatment during their 
 residence therein." 
 
 The institution was known for forty years as Rhode Island 
 College. It was established first as a Latin school in the town of 
 Warren, Rhode Island. This choice, however, was not from the 
 outset regarded as a permanency, and after a spirited contest for 
 the honor among the leading towns of the colony, Providence 
 was chosen as the home of the institution. 
 
 Funds to the amount of $4500 had been raised in England and 
 Ireland by the Rev. Morgan Edwards in 1 767-8. These were 
 constituted a permanent fund of the college. Other funds raised in 
 Rhode Island and other sections, including gifts from the Phila- 
 delphia, Charleston and Warren Baptist Associations and a 
 special subscription to the amount of $2500 secured by Rev. 
 Hezekiah Smith in South Carolina and Georgia, were applied 
 to the erection of a college building and a house for the president 
 and to the support of the college. To these funds contributions 
 were made not only by Baptists, but by others who were attracted 
 by the liberal foundation of the college. The buildings were 
 erected in the year 1 770. The work of the college was interrupted 
 in December 1 776 by the War of the Revolution, and was not 
 resumed until the fall of 1 782. Meanwhile, University Hall was 
 used as a barrack and hospital for the American and French 
 troops. Nine years later, at the death of President Manning, the 
 college had a graduate roll of one hundred forty-nine, with a 
 graduating class of twenty-two. 
 
 The charter provides for the creation of two governing bodies 
 constituting one body corporate and politic to be known as the 
 Trustees and Fellows of the college. It was ordained that these 
 bodies "shall at all times sit and act by separate and distinct powers 
 and in general in order to the validity and consummation of all 
 
 14 
 
acts there shall be in the exercise of their respective, separate and 
 distinct powers the joint concurrence of the Trustees and Fellows by 
 their respective majorities except in adjudging and conferring the 
 academical degrees, which shall forever belong exclusively to the 
 fellowship." The instruction and immediate government of the 
 college were "forever to be and rest in the president and fellows or 
 fellowship." The Corporation of the college was to be self-per- 
 petuating, vacancies in the two boards being filled by concurrent 
 favorable action of the two bodies. It was provided that "the 
 number of the Trustees shall and may be thirty-six of which twenty- 
 two shall forever be elected of the denomination called Baptists or 
 Anti-pedoBaptists, five shall forever be elected of the denomina- 
 tion called Friends or Quakers, four shall forever be elected of the 
 denomination called Congregationalists, and five shall forever be 
 elected of the denomination called Episcopalians," and that "the 
 succession in this branch shall be forever chosen and filled up from 
 the respective denominations in this proportion and according to 
 these numbers which are hereby fixed and shall remain to per- 
 petuity immutably the same." It was further provided that the 
 number of Fellows, "exclusive of the president who shall always 
 be a Fellow, shall and may be twelve, of which eight shall forever 
 be elected of the denomination called Baptists or Anti-pedo- 
 Baptists and the rest indifferently of any or all denominations." 
 
 A single change has been effected in the legal status of the college 
 as established by its charter. In 1863 the legislature passed an 
 act modifying the exemption of the president, professors, tutors and 
 students of the college from "taxation, serving on juries and menial 
 services," by the provision that, so far as the families of president 
 and professors were involved, the exemption should extend only 
 to property of a value of ten thousand dollars in each case. This 
 act was made subject to its acceptance by the Corporation of the 
 college. It was accepted by the Corporation as a manifestation of 
 its "cordial compliance with a reasonable wish." This consti- 
 tuted a virtual, though not formal, amendment of the college 
 charter. 
 RUTGERS COLLEGE (1766). 
 
 A royal charter for an institution of learning to be called "Queen's 
 College" was granted by George the Third through William 
 
 15 
 
Franklin, Governor of the Province of New Jersey, in 1 766. The 
 petitioners were ministers and members of the Reformed Dutch 
 Church, who desired an institution in which young men might 
 be prepared for the ministry in order that their congregations might 
 be supplied with educated pastors. The purpose expressed in the 
 charter is "for the education of youth in the learned languages, 
 liberal and useful arts and sciences, and especially in divinity, 
 preparing them for the ministry and other good offices." 
 
 The charter constituted as Trustees four men from "the city of 
 New York, seventeen from the Province of New York, and the 
 Governor, the President of the Council, the Chief Justice and the 
 Attorney-General, together with sixteen others from the Province 
 of New Jersey." Apparently no copy of this charter exists; but 
 before it went into operation, an amended charter was given 
 in 1770. This charter constituted "the Trustees of Queen's 
 College in New Jersey," appointing the Governor, the President 
 of the Council, the Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, with fifteen 
 others from the colony of New Jersey, twenty from the Province of 
 New York, and two from the Province of Pennsylvania, as Trustees. 
 The Board was made self-perpetuating and limited to a member- 
 ship of forty-one, of whom not above one-third should at any time 
 be "of those ordained ministers of the Gospel" and was em- 
 powered to appoint professors, tutors and any inferior officers or 
 ministers which it "should judge necessary for the use of the college." 
 No restriction as to place of residence or church connections of 
 any Trustees is prescribed by the charter. It is provided, however, 
 that they do appoint "a qualified person, being a member of the 
 Dutch Reformed Church .... to be the President." 
 
 In 1781 the charter was amended by the substitution of oaths of 
 allegiance in conformity with the new relation to the State of New 
 Jersey, and removal of the restriction as to the number of ministers 
 upon the Board and as to the officiating of civil officers other 
 than the Governor at its meetings. In 1 799 a further amend- 
 ment prescribed the oath to support the Constitution of the United 
 States. In 1825 authority was given to the Board to change 
 the time of the college commencement and to transact business 
 without a specified form of advertisement in the newspapers. 
 
 16 
 
By this act also the name of the college was changed from "Queen's 
 College" to "Rutgers College." 
 
 In 1 869 an extension was made of the limit of property holdings, 
 and all limit is now removed by general laws of the State of New 
 Jersey. 
 
 DARTMOUTH COLLEGE (1769). 
 
 Dartmouth College is an outgrowth of a school opened in 1 754 
 by Rev. Eleazer Wheelock in his home in Lebanon, Connecticut 
 for the Christian education of Indian youth. Funds for the school 
 were received from various sources including private individuals, 
 and the General Courts of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire. 
 An endowment was secured chiefly through the effort of an Indian 
 preacher, one of Dr. Wheelock's students who visited England in 
 1765. 10,000 was thus raised and committed to a board of 
 Trustees with the Earl of Dartmouth at its head. It was now 
 determined to extend the work of the school to the training of 
 English as well as of Indian youth. Removal to New Hampshire 
 simplified the problem of a charter which thus far it had been 
 difficult to secure. The draft of the charter prepared by Dr. 
 Wheelock was modified in important ways by the Governor of the 
 province who in particular rejected the suggestion of a co-ordinate 
 Board of Trustees in Great Britian and incorporated the institution 
 as a college rather than as a school or academy. 
 
 The Governor of the State and eleven others were named as 
 Trustees under the provision, "The whole number of said Trustees 
 consisting and hereafter forever to consist of twelve and no more." 
 
 Dr. Wheelock was made president of the college with power to 
 appoint such person as he should choose to succeed him. There- 
 after power to fill vacancies in the presidency was held by the 
 trustees. Vacancies in the Trustees were to be filled by the body 
 in such a way that eight should be residents of New Hampshire 
 and seven should be laymen. 
 
 Changes in the charter, so far as indicated are, removal of 
 all limitations as to the property holding powers of the body, pro- 
 vision that a legal meeting might be held subject to such notice 
 
 17 
 
as was prescribed by the rules of the Trustees, and requirement that 
 seven, instead of eight, Trustees should be residents of New Hamp- 
 shire. 
 
 At present there are twelve trustees including the President. 
 But one is a clergyman. In addition to these, five Councillors of 
 the State of New Hampshire, the President of the Senate, the 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chief-justice of 
 the Supreme Court are "Ex-officio trustees of the college in relation 
 to funds given by the State of New Hampshire." 
 
 The Legislature of New Hampshire in 1816 passed an act 
 changing the name of the college to "Dartmouth University," 
 enlarging the body of Trustees, constituting a Board of Overseers 
 for reviewing the work of the Trustees and giving appointing 
 power to the State. The Trustees were opposed to the change 
 and brought an action before the Supreme Court of the State, 
 from whose decision in support of the action of the Legislature 
 appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 By this body the judgment of the lower Court was reversed 
 and the act of the Legislature was pronounced unconstitutional. 
 
 DICKINSON COLLEGE (1783). 
 
 Dickinson College was founded in Carlisle, Pa., 1783. An 
 official of the College writes as follows : "It was chartered as a 
 non-sectarian institution 'on the petition of a number of persons of 
 established reputation for patriotism, integrity, ability and humanity.' 
 Frequently aided by appropriations from the treasury of the State, 
 the College came eventually to be regarded as an institution of 
 of the Presbyterian Church. This relation, however, was not one 
 of denominational ownership and control, but rather one of a strong, 
 sympathetic interest. In 1833, the College came by amicable 
 arrangement under the friendly auspices of certain Conferences of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, but without change in any of the 
 non-sectarian features of its charter. This is the relation now 
 existing." 
 
 The charter provided that the college should be "under the 
 management of a number of Trustees not exceeding forty," that 
 they should be self-perpetuating, that neither the Principal (Presi- 
 
 18 
 
dent) nor members of the faculty while they remain such "shall 
 ever be capable of the office of Trustee," that persons of every 
 religious denomination might be made Trustees, that the number 
 of clergymen thereby appointed Trustees shall never be lessened. 
 
 It was further provided that "the constitution shall remain 
 
 the inviolable constitution of the said college forever and the same 
 shall not be altered or alterable by any ordinance or law of the 
 said Trustees or in any other manner than by the act of the legis- 
 lature of the State." 
 
 In 1826 the charter was amended with the provision that "not 
 more than one-third of the Trustees shall at anytime be clergymen" 
 (the act to take effect when ratified by the Trustees). 
 
 In 1834 it was provided that the Principal of the college should 
 be ex-officio President of the board with all rights of other Trustees, 
 that the places of members absent from meetings of the board for 
 two years should be vacant and that the faculty should have certain 
 disciplinary powers. 
 
 In 1879 "at the term of the Court of Common Pleas of Cumber- 
 land County, the Trustees of the college petitioned that the charter 
 be amended in such manner that the term of office of each Trustee 
 be limited to four years and the body be divided into four equal 
 classes, the term of one of which should close each year." By 
 order of the Court it was "declared and decided that the amend- 
 ments to the said charter are hereby granted and that the amend- 
 ment should be a part of the charter of the Trustees of Dickinson 
 College." 
 
 At the term of the same Court in 1 889, the Trustees petitioned 
 that the requirement of an oath or affirmation be changed to sub- 
 scription in a permanent record book. This also was incor- 
 porated with the charter. 
 
 In 1890 the Trustees asked for authority "to increase the number 
 of Trustees from forty to fifty, six of the additional ten to be elected 
 by Trustees at large and four by the alumni." This was ordered 
 by the Court. 
 
 The College has received recognition by the Trustees of the 
 Carnegie Foundation. This, the President of the College states, 
 was "because of the clearly non-sectarian character of its charter, 
 
 19 
 
and the declaration of the Trustees that, while definitely under the 
 friendly auspices of, and maintaining a strongly sympathetic relation 
 with, the Methodist Church, it has nevertheless a self-perpetuating 
 Board of Trustees, that no Conference of the said Church has 
 official representation on the Board, and that in no way is the 
 College under official denominational control." 
 
 WILLIAMS COLLEGE (1793). 
 
 The college owes its origin to an educational bequest for the 
 purpose of establishing a "free school" in Williamstown. The 
 charter of this school granted in 1 785 recites the provisions of the 
 will which directs that money obtained by sale of lands shall be 
 used "to maintain a free school forever, provided the township 
 shall fall within the jurisdiction of the Province of Massachusetts 
 Bay." It was provided further that, in case the provisos were not 
 complied with, the money should be appropriated "to some 
 pious and charitable uses." The executors being uncertain 
 whether the township had so far fallen within the designated 
 territory that the funds might legitimately be used for the purpose, 
 the Legislature decreed that the money be used for a free school in 
 Williamstown. 
 
 A Corporation was created with the provision that it should 
 "always be constituted of not less than seven or more than nine" 
 members. Vacancies were to be filled by the "Supreme Judicial 
 Court of Massachusetts." The Corporation and the donation 
 were to be under the "visitation and direction of the Supreme 
 Judicial Court" which was to determine "all matters of doubt or 
 dispute touching the duties of the trustees and the use of monies." 
 
 In 1 792 the trustees of the school in a petition to the Legislature 
 expressed the conviction that circumstances were "peculiarly 
 favorable to a seminary of a more public and important nature." 
 By action of the Legislature a college "in the County of Berkshire" 
 was established. The Board of Trustees of the Free School were 
 constituted Trustees of the college, and the funds of the college 
 including the proceeds of the legacy were vested in them. But 
 the college was considered a new institution and a new charter 
 was granted to it. This provides that the Trustees shall be self- 
 
 20 
 
perpetuating and that their number "shall never be greater than 
 seventeen nor less than eleven." 
 
 The Legislature reserved to itself a power of change in the 
 charter. 
 
 In 1 796 an additional act was passed by the Legislature declaring 
 that the new Corporation is so far invested with the powers of the 
 Trustees of the Free School that it may prosecute any suit or action 
 (apparently in relation to the proceeds of the original legacy) 
 which those trustees had begun. 
 
 Apparently no changes have been made in the charter of 
 Williams College, except the according of permission to hold 
 special meetings without the limits of Massachusetts and to increase 
 its property holdings. The peculiar interest of the history of the 
 college attaches, not to change of charter, but to the use of the 
 legacy left for establishment of a free school. It does not appear 
 whether the sanction of this use of the funds by the Legislature was 
 on the ground that the purpose of the donor was substantially 
 served, or on the ground of the direction given in the will that, in 
 case the provisos were not complied with, the money should be 
 devoted "to some pious and charitable uses." 
 
 BOWDOIN COLLEGE (1794). 
 
 The situation in Bowdoin College is in some respects unique. 
 Here, as at Harvard, and doubtless because of the form of organi- 
 zation at Harvard, two administrative bodies were created, the 
 Trustees and the Overseers. Both bodies were empowered to fill 
 vacancies in their number, with the provision that the number 
 of Trustees, including the President and Treasurer of the College, 
 "shall never be greater than thirteen or less than seven" and the 
 number of Overseers "shall never be greater than forty-five nor less 
 than twenty-five." The provision was made at the outset that the 
 Legislature might "alter or annul the powers vested in the Corpo- 
 ration as shall be judged necessary to promote the best interest of the 
 said College." The provision that the number of Trustees and 
 Overseers as indicated should never be altered would appear to 
 
 21 
 
indicate that the reservation of power of change as made by 
 the Legislature pertained to the powers of the governing Boards 
 and not to their constitution. When the separation of the District 
 of Maine from Massachusetts proper occurred, it was provided that 
 the powers accorded to the Legislature should be accorded to 
 the Legislatures of the two States. 
 
 The one change made in the charter relates to an extension 
 of the legal limits of property holdings. Action to this effect was 
 taken by the two Legislatures. The adjustment of conditions at 
 the institution to the requirements of the Carnegie Trustees did 
 not relate to the charter, but to conditions under which certain 
 gifts had been accepted. These conditions in two cases were 
 altered, and one gift of $50,000 was returned to the donor. The 
 issue of charter revision did not arise. 
 
 A remarkable episode in the history of the College-its temporary 
 administration by an enlarged body of Trustees and Overseers 
 belongs to the year 1821-1833. The provision of the "Act of 
 Separation" (1819) that the powers accorded to the Legislature 
 of Massachusetts should thereafter be exercised by the conjoint 
 action of the two Legislatures, was incorporated in the Constitution 
 of the State of Maine. But this Constitution in another article 
 made the granting of endowments for colleges within its territory 
 conditional upon the right to enlarge or restrict the powers exercised 
 by their governing bodies. In view of this provision, Bowdoin 
 College sought from the two Legislatures permission to concede 
 to the State of Maine the right which the "Act of Separation" 
 had accorded to the two Legislatures. Action was taken by 
 the two bodies and, in 1 82 1 , the Legislature of Maine, assuming 
 that a right of independent action was now secured to it, passed 
 an act enlarging the two Boards of the College and giving power 
 of appointment of their members in part to the Governor and 
 Council of the State. Other legislative changes were followed in 
 1 83 1 by an act limiting the term of the President of the College 
 to a single year, and giving power of removal to the Boards at 
 their pleasure. A vacancy having occured under this ruling, the 
 President brought suit in the U. S. Circuit Court for recovery of 
 
 22 
 
salary. Justice Story held that the action of the State beginning 
 with that of 1821 was illegal. His opinion was based upon 
 the grounds, that the action of the Maine Legislature, by which 
 the power originally held jointly was accorded to the State of 
 Maine independently, was defective in that it had not been 
 submitted for specific ratification to the Legislature of Mass- 
 achusetts that the action of Massachusetts contemplated only 
 changes proposed by the College and not initiation of changes by 
 the Legislature, that the action of the Maine Legislature in the 
 extensive changes made far exceeded the authority contemplated 
 in the enabling act since this, in harmony with the original charter 
 of the College, proposed only the exercise by the State of the right 
 to enlarge or restrict the powers and privileges conferred by the 
 charter upon the Corporation and ihai "only in such degree as 
 should be judged necessary to promote the best interest of the 
 College." As respects the action in 1831, he held that the 
 College had expressed only acquiescence in the act and not 
 approval, and that if approval had been given, this could not 
 give validity to action which was in itself a violation of the terms 
 of the charter. "The Legislature and Boards are not the only 
 parties in interest upon such constitutional questions. The people 
 have a deep and vested interest in maintaining all the constituent 
 limitations upon the exercise of legislative power, and no private 
 arrangements between such parties can supersede them." 
 
 UNION COLLEGE (1795). 
 
 The charter of Union College was secured in 1 795 in response 
 to the appeal of citizens of the State residing mainly in Schenectady. 
 The name chosen was "indicative of the union of the various 
 evangelical sects engaged in its foundation." The charter was 
 granted by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. 
 It provided that the Trustees shall always be twenty-four in number. 
 No indication is given as to the method of continuance of Trustees, 
 the one provision being that "the said Trustees and their successors 
 shall be a body corporate and politic and shall have perpetual 
 succession." 
 
 23 
 
In 1 805 an act for endowment of the college was passed by the 
 legislature of the State "upon the express condition and stipulation 
 that the said trustees of Union College shall make application to 
 the Regents of the University of this State" for such amendment of 
 its charter as should reduce the number of Trustees to twenty-one, 
 and should constitute the Chancellor, the Justices of the Supreme 
 Court and four other officials of the State ex-officio Trustees of the 
 college. The Regents subsequently took action amending the 
 charter, reciting that the Trustees of the college had made applica- 
 tion in accordance with the terms of the act. The number of 
 Trustees was thus reduced to twenty-one, of whom eleven were 
 ex-officio representatives. Vacancies occurring in the remaining 
 group of ten were to be filled by the Regents. 
 
 In 1 823 an act was passed by the Legislature reciting that, by a 
 reduction made in the number of justices of the Supreme Court 
 of the State, the number of Trustees of the college had been reduced, 
 and providing that the Governor and Lieutenant-Govemor should 
 be added to the number of the Trustees provided the Board of 
 Trustees should consent to the change. 
 
 By the revised State Constitution of 1846, the number of ex- 
 officio Trustees of the college was reduced by elimination of the 
 Chancellor, the Supreme Court Justices and the Surveyor General 
 of the State. The total number of trustees continued to be twenty- 
 one, of whom the Governor, Lieutenant-Govemor, Secretary-of- 
 State, Controller, Treasurer and Attorney-General were ex- 
 officio, and fifteen others chosen by the Regents were permanent 
 or life Trustees, and constituted a self perpetuating body. 
 
 In 1 87 1 , the charter of the college was so amended (subject to 
 "the power of the said Regents at any time hereafter on cause satis- 
 factory to them to alter or repeal the ordinance") that four additional 
 Trustees were to be elected by the alumni of the college, the voting 
 being restricted to graduates entitled to the Master's degree. The 
 candidate must be a graduate of ten years' standing. 
 
 Under the general provisions of the statutes of the State of New 
 York, the Board of Regents has power "to incorporate and to 
 alter or revoke the charters of universities, colleges, academies, 
 libraries or other educational institutions." 
 
 24 
 
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE (1800). 
 
 The President of the college states that no change has been 
 made in the original charter. 
 
 HAMILTON COLLEGE (1812). 
 
 The college was an outgrowth of an academy formed in 1793. 
 Its charter was granted by the Regents of the University of the 
 State of New York in 1812, in response to a petition received from 
 the trustees of "Hamilton Oneida Academy" and many citizens. 
 The charter provided that the Trustees "shall always be twenty-four 
 in number." 
 
 It is not distinctly stated that the Board of Trustees shall be 
 self-perpetuating, the one phrase referring to the perpetuation of the 
 body being "The said Trustees and their successors shall be a body 
 corporate and politic by the name of the Trustees of Hamilton 
 College, and shall have perpetual succession." 
 
 An ordinance to amend the charter of Hamilton College granted 
 by the Regents in 1 875, on application by the Trustees of the college, 
 provides that "four additional Trustees shall be chosen by the alumni, 
 who shall possess the same powers and perform the same duties 
 as the other Trustees of the college." Eligibility is restricted to 
 graduates of at least ten years' standing. Trustees chosen by the 
 graduates serve for a term of four years. The term of other Trustees, 
 elected by the Board, is seven years. 
 
 The amended charter states "that the said Trustees and their 
 successors forever shall enjoy all the corporate rights and privileges 
 which the Regents of the University are empowered to grant." 
 
 As stated in the reference to the charter of Union College, under 
 the general provisions of the statutes of the State of New York, 
 the Board of Regents has power "to incorporate and to alter or 
 revoke the charters of universities, colleges, academies, libraries 
 or other educational institutions." 
 
 AMHERST COLLEGE (1821). 
 
 Amherst College was founded in 1821 by a group of Congre" 
 gationalist ministers and laymen. It was provided that the number 
 
 25 
 
of Trustees, including the President, "shall never be greater than 
 seventeen." It was composed originally of eight clergymen and 
 nine laymen. 
 
 The five vacancies first occurring were to be filled by a joint 
 ballot of the Legislature "by whom also the successors of these five" 
 should be appointed "and so on forever." Other vacancies were 
 to be filled by the Trustees in such manner that "the said Board 
 shall, as soon as may be, and forever (hereafter) consist of seven 
 clergymen and ten laymen." 
 
 At one time Amherst received a grant of about $50,000 from 
 the State. 
 
 It was provided that "the Legislature may give any further powers 
 to, or alter, limit, annul or restrain any of the powers vested by the 
 act in the said corporation." 
 
 One change in the charter only is noted. In 1 874, it was provided 
 that "the Trustees of Amherst College heretofore chosen by the 
 legislature shall hereafter be chosen by the graduates of said 
 college." These Trustees were to be graduates of four years' 
 standing. President Harris states that no other action has been 
 taken by the Legislature except the sanctioning of increase in the 
 property holdings of the College. 
 
 Like the charters of other colleges originating later than 1819, 
 the date of the Dartmouth College decision, the charter of Amherst 
 is subject to a reserved right of change by the Legislature. 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE (1823). 
 
 The charter of Trinity College was granted in 1823. It was 
 provided that vacancies in the governing body should be filled 
 by the trustees who were empowered to increase their number to 
 twenty-four. The school was opened at Hartford, Conn., in 1 824 
 under the name "Washington College." 
 
 In 1 845, on petition of the Corporation, the name was changed 
 to "Trinity College." 
 
 The charter recites that it was given on petition of "sundry 
 inhabitants of the State of the denomination of Christians called 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church." Originally the Trustees were 
 twenty in number. It was provided that "the said Trustees shall 
 
 26 
 
have power to increase their number from time to time, at their 
 discretion, to the number of twenty-four." The body was made 
 self-perpetuating. A section of the charter provides that no 
 ordinance or by-law shall "make the religious tenets of any person 
 a condition of admission to any privilege in the said college" and 
 that "no president or professor or other officer shall be made 
 ineligible" for his position "by reason of any religious tenet that 
 he may profess," or be "compelled by the by-laws or otherwise 
 to subscribe to any religious test whatsoever." 
 
 In 1883, it was provided that three Trustees should be chosen by 
 the alumni for a term of service of three years each. The candi- 
 dates must be of five years' standing. This provision was to take 
 effect when the act was accepted by the Trustees. 
 
 There are now twenty-four Trustees including three elected by 
 the alumni. They include the President, twenty chosen by the 
 Board, and three chosen by the alumni. 
 
 An official of the college writes, "The petition of 'sundry in- 
 habitants of the State of the denomination of Christians called the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church* indicated the religious conviction of 
 individuals. The petition had no denominational endorsement from 
 the Church itself, and the original Board of Trustees was not com- 
 posed exclusively of Episcopalians." 
 
 WESLEY AN UNIVERSITY (1831). 
 
 Wesleyan University was founded as an institution under the 
 patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church, "the leading mem- 
 bers of that church being convinced of the need of some institution 
 of collegiate rank which should be under the auspices of their 
 own denomination." (President Foss 1870). 
 
 The original charter was granted in 1 83 1 . The charter provided 
 for maintenance of a relation to several of the Annual Conferences 
 or to the "General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church." All property of the corporation was to be managed 
 for these ecclesiastical bodies. The trustees, originally twenty-one, 
 were to fill vacancies "provided the whole number of said board 
 shall not at any time exceed thirty-nine." It was provided that 
 the Conferences should elect a Board of Visitors, not exceeding 
 
 27 
 
the Board of Trustees in number and constituting with the Trustees 
 a joint board which should be the governing body of the insti- 
 tution. "This charter included a proviso that religious tenets 
 should not be a condition of admission to any privilege or office 
 in the University". 
 
 In 1 870, a new charter was granted to the college. By a com- 
 plete change, in which only the enacting clause and the designation 
 of the name of the college was retained, all properties were trans- 
 ferred to a single Board of Trustees. Each annual Conference 
 recognized as a "patronizing Conference" was entitled to appoint 
 "at least one trustee." Of these Conferences, thirteen were named, 
 with provision that others might be added. By this reconstructed 
 charter, the alumni were to elect five members of the Board who 
 must be graduates of three years' standing. The whole number 
 was not to exceed forty including the president. The remainder 
 of the Board was to be chosen by the Board. It was provided 
 that the "majority of the Trustees, the President and the majority of 
 the faculty must be members of the Methodist Episcopal Church." 
 The charter was to become effective when approved by a majority 
 of the present Board of Trustees and Visitors 
 
 By an amendment to the charter in 1879 it was provided that 
 the Trustees might elect ten and the alumni body five additional 
 members of the Board. In 1 882 the college was given a certain 
 exemption from taxation. 
 
 In 1907, it was provided that "no denominational tests shall be 
 imposed on the choice of trustees, officers or teachers, or the 
 admission of students." An official of the College states that 
 this change, while related to correspondence with the Carnegie 
 Foundation, was "the expression of a deep and growing dissatis- 
 faction on the part of trustees, faculty and alumni with the pro- 
 vision that the president and a majority of the trustees and of the 
 members of the faculty must be members of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church. In the matter of religious tests, the charter of 1 907 
 has simply returned to the spirit of the charter of 1831." The 
 whole number of Trustees of the institution was not to exceed fifty- 
 five, of whom the President should be one. All members were to 
 serve for five years. Ten were to be representatives of the alumni. 
 
 28 
 
Trustees to a number not exceeding one-fourth of the whole num- 
 ber were to be chosen by the Conferences. Aside from the Alumni 
 and Conference representation, the Board of Trustees was to be 
 self-perpetuating. "The constitution of the Board of Trustees is 
 essentially the same in the charter of 1 907 as in that of 1 870. 
 The Conferences now choose thirteen members out a of board of 
 trustees which when full consists of fifty-five members, the majority 
 of whom are elected by the Board itself." 
 
 As in the case of other educational institutions founded since 
 1819, a power of revision of the charter of the college has remained 
 with the State. 
 
 29 
 
SUMMARY. 
 
 I. Colleges holding charters subject to revision by the State : 
 
 1 . By express provision of the charter or by general legislation 
 of the State. 
 
 Dickinson; Williams (as to the "powers of Trustees"); 
 Union (through the "Board of Regents of the State of 
 New York"); Bowdoin (as to the "powers of Trustees"); 
 Hamilton (through the "Board of Regents of the State of 
 New York"). 
 
 To this class belong also : Amherst, Trinity, Wesleyan , 
 and all other institutions founded later than 1819. 
 
 2. By such relations originally sustained with the State that 
 freedom in legislative revision of the charter is either 
 undeniable or apparently may reasonably be claimed : 
 
 Harvard (as to the "Overseers"); Columbia; Princeton; 
 Washington and Lee; Rutgers. 
 
 3. By relations with the State subsequently assumed by the 
 college. 
 
 Yale (as to a section of the Board of Trustees added in 
 1792). 
 
 II. Colleges holding charters as to which the State is without 
 reserved right of revision : 
 
 Harvard (as to the Corporation) ; Yale (as to the 
 "Successors to the original Trustees") ; University of 
 Pennsylvania; Brown; Darthmouth; Williams (except as 
 to the "powers of Trustees"); Bowdoin (except as to the 
 "powers of Trustees"). 
 
 III. Colleges with unrestricted charters in which changes of a 
 minor character have been made, e. g., the limit of property 
 holdings, the time and place of holding meetings, etc. : 
 
 Dartmouth; Williams; Bowdoin. 
 30 
 
IV. Colleges with unrestricted charters in which any change of 
 greater importance has been made : 
 
 Yale (in the relation entered into with the State in 1 792). 
 
 V. Colleges holding Charters with provisions declared to be 
 perpetually binding : 
 
 Brown; Dartmouth; Williams; Bowdoin; Yale (a provision 
 introduced in 1 792 as to the "Successors to the original 
 Trustees"). 
 
 VI. Changes permanently secured in provisions declared to be 
 perpetually binding in charters unrestricted by a reserved power of 
 the State : 
 
 None. 
 
 VII. Instances of vital change in unrestricted charters tempora- 
 rily made but subsequently overruled. 
 
 1. Dartmouth (1816-19). Changes enacted by the State 
 but opposed by the Trustees of the College ; pro- 
 nounced by the Supreme Court of the United States 
 unconstitutional. 
 
 2. Bowdoin (1822-33). Changes enacted by the State 
 and accepted by the govering Boards of the College ; 
 pronounced unconstitutional by Justice Story of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, when presiding 
 in the Circuit Court. 
 
 CHANGES IN CHARTERS OF COLLEGES AFFECTING 
 DENOMINATIONAL RELATIONS. 
 
 I. It appears that only colleges founded prior to 1 8 1 9 the year 
 of the Dartmouth College decision afford light upon the main 
 problem of Brown, since after this date, in the founding of 
 colleges all States were careful to reserve a right of revision or 
 amendment of the charter, and gifts were made with this under- 
 standing. 
 
 31 
 
II. Colleges founded prior to 1819, having denominational 
 provision in their charters : 
 
 In relation to the President. 
 
 Columbia. 
 In relation to Covering Boards. 
 
 Harvard; Brown. 
 
 The first charter of the college now known as Columbia University 
 provided that the President should be in communion with the Church 
 of England. This provision was discontinued at the time of the 
 constitution of Columbia University. Through its close relation 
 with the college, the State at the time had unquestioned power to 
 make this and other changes. 
 
 At Harvard, the denominational provision related not to the 
 Corporation, but to the Board of Overseers whose close relation 
 to the State was recognized from the beginning. From 1810 to 
 1834, membership of clergymen in the Board of Overseers was 
 restricted to Congregationalists. In the latter year, an act was 
 passed by the Legislature and accepted by the Governing Boards 
 of the College by which membership in the Board was open to 
 clergymen of all denominations. 
 
 Brown, it would seem, offers the one instance of proposed 
 change in provisions affecting denominational relations in a charter 
 as to which the State has no reserved power of revision. Appar- 
 ently, therefore, the peril, alleged or real, of violation of a civil 
 contract is met only in the case of Brown. 
 
 III. With respect to recent action of colleges due to conditions 
 imposed by the Carnegie Foundation, the following institutions are 
 mentioned in reports by Dr. Pritchett issued in 1 908 and 1 909 : 
 
 Bowdoin College (Maine), Dickinson College (Pa.). 
 
 Randolph-Macon (Women's) College (Va.). 
 In these cases no change in provisions of the charters was 
 involved. Bowdoin adjusted certain gifts which had been condi- 
 tioned upon its maintenance of a "Trinitarian Congregational" 
 position and returned to the donor one conditional gift. The other 
 
 32 
 
two colleges claimed that relation to Methodists was only moral 
 and ultimately published statements saying that recognition in 
 the Methodist Year Book was unauthorized. The Randolph- 
 Macon College subsequently withdrew from recognition by the 
 Carnegie Trustees, in the interest of closer affiliation with the 
 Methodist body. 
 
 In the following cases, while the change effected or proposed 
 involved alteration in the provisions of charters, a right of change 
 was reserved to the State as was true in general of all institutions 
 founded later than 1819. 
 
 BATES COLLEGE MAINE. 
 
 Founded in 1830. In 1863 the institution reached collegiate 
 grade and secured a new charter. In this there was no denomi- 
 national provision, though the institution was "to be fostered by 
 Free Baptists." In an amendment of the charter in 1891, it was 
 provided that the President and majority of both boards (Fellows 
 and Overseers) should be members of Free Baptist churches. In 
 1 907 a change to the earlier basis was effected. 
 
 FRANKLIN COLLEGE INDIANA. 
 
 Founded in 1835. After many vicissitudes, the institution was 
 closed and in 1 872 it passed into the hands of a Stock Company. 
 A new act of incorporation provided that the majority of the 
 Trustees should be Baptists and that this provision should not be 
 subject to change. 
 
 In 1 907 the Company was dissolved and the college was recon- 
 stituted on an undenominational basis. Consent to this change 
 was sought and obtained from all living subscribers of funds and 
 from the heirs of deceased subscribers. 
 
 DRAKE UNIVERSITY IOWA. 
 
 Founded in 1881 . Supported by the "Disciples of Christ" with 
 the understanding and provision that two-thirds of the trustees 
 should be elected by the convention of that body and two-thirds 
 should be members of its churches. Later, citizens of Des Moines 
 became interested in the college and denominational tests were 
 
 33 
 
discontinued, but one-fourth of the Trustees were still to be elected 
 by the Convention. 
 
 Being informed by the Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation that 
 "even when the trustees elected by a denominational body were 
 only a minority" recognition could not be given to the college, the 
 college secured the removal of the restrictive provision. 
 
 CENTRAL UNIVERSITY KENTUCKY. 
 
 The college was re-established after the Civil War on a joint 
 foundation representative of the Northern and Southern Presby- 
 terian churches and under their control. The two bodies sought 
 to retain a veto power in the action of Trustees but the Carnegie 
 Trustees declined to sanction this. 
 
 DRURY COLLEGE MO. 
 
 Founded in 1 869. The original charter provides that a majority 
 of the Trustees "shall be connected with the family of Christian 
 churches known as Congregationalist." In 1 907, upon application 
 by the college, the legislature eliminated denominational restrictions. 
 
 34 
 
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