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Lycoming College, 1812–2012

On the Frontiers of American Education

John F. Piper

Lycoming College, 1812-2012: On the Frontiers of American Education is the story of Lycoming College, a liberal arts and sciences college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The College is one of the fifty oldest institutions of higher education in the nation and the oldest that retains a relationship to the United Methodist Church. The College shares many characteristics with peer institutions which have retained the liberal arts and sciences as the basis of their academic programs. It also has the distinction of having evolved through four different stages of American education, and has reached a fifth. It began as the Williamsport Academy in 1812, a school that offered a higher level of education than common schools. Academies became the ancestors of public high schools. In 1848 a group of Methodists bought the Academy and transformed it into Dickinson Seminary, soon renamed Williamsport Dickinson Seminary. It was a preparatory school, not a school of theology, despite its name. In 1929 the leaders of the Seminary added a Junior College to their school. Junior colleges were a new frontier of American education in the early 20^th Century and Dickinson Junior College became the first fully accredited private junior college in Pennsylvania. After World War II the Junior College became a four year institution and chose the name Lycoming. In 2000 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching included Lycoming in its list of 213 national liberal arts colleges. This latest frontier has become a challenge to the College to sustain its program in an ever changing American educational landscape.

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 808 • Trim: 6½ x 9⅜

978-1-61148-370-3 • Hardback • December 2011 • $77.00 • (£59.00)

978-1-61148-371-0 • eBook • December 2011 • $73.00 • (£56.00)

Subjects: Education / History, Education / Organizations & Institutions, History / United States / General

Lycoming College, 1812–2012

On the Frontiers of American Education

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Lycoming College, 1812-2012: On the Frontiers of American Education is the story of Lycoming College, a liberal arts and sciences college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The College is one of the fifty oldest institutions of higher education in the nation and the oldest that retains a relationship to the United Methodist Church. The College shares many characteristics with peer institutions which have retained the liberal arts and sciences as the basis of their academic programs. It also has the distinction of having evolved through four different stages of American education, and has reached a fifth. It began as the Williamsport Academy in 1812, a school that offered a higher level of education than common schools. Academies became the ancestors of public high schools. In 1848 a group of Methodists bought the Academy and transformed it into Dickinson Seminary, soon renamed Williamsport Dickinson Seminary. It was a preparatory school, not a school of theology, despite its name. In 1929 the leaders of the Seminary added a Junior College to their school. Junior colleges were a new frontier of American education in the early 20^th Century and Dickinson Junior College became the first fully accredited private junior college in Pennsylvania. After World War II the Junior College became a four year institution and chose the name Lycoming. In 2000 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching included Lycoming in its list of 213 national liberal arts colleges. This latest frontier has become a challenge to the College to sustain its program in an ever changing American educational landscape.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 808 • Trim: 6½ x 9⅜

978-1-61148-370-3 • Hardback • December 2011 • $77.00 • (£59.00)

978-1-61148-371-0 • eBook • December 2011 • $73.00 • (£56.00)

Subjects: Education / History, Education / Organizations & Institutions, History / United States / General

Author

John F. Piper, Jr. is college historian of Lycoming College. He began his career at Lycoming College as a professor of history, eventually becoming chair of the department. He served as dean of the College from 1992 until his retirement in 2007.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Prologue
Illustrations
1. Frontier Education: Williamsport Academy (1812-1848)
2. Methodists Transform the Academy: Dickinson Seminary (1848-1849)
3. A Decade of Academic Success and Financial Failure (1849-1859)
4. Rescued Twice: Williamsport Dickinson Seminary (1860-1874)
5. New Leadership: Growth and Prosperity (1874-1905)
6. An Expanding Campus; An Emerging Student Culture (1874-1905)
7. A Greater Dickinson (1905-1912)
8. Challenges to the Mission (1912-1921)
9. A Vision and Signs of Change (1921-1929)
10. A New Frontier: Williamsport Dickinson Seminary and Junior College (1929-1934)
11. The Seminary and Junior College in Peace and War (1935-1947)
12. The College on the Hill: Lycoming College (1946-1948)
13. Transitions: Achieving Accreditation and Seeking Space (1948-1955)
14. The Heart of the College: New Leadership (1948-1955)
15. Building Years: Old Main to New Main (1955-1968)
16. A Liberal Arts College: The Faculty and the Curriculum (1955-1968)
17. A Liberal Arts College: The Students (1955-1968)
18. The Campus Crisis (1968-1969)
19. Depression and Recovery (1969-1989)
20. Equality and Excellence (1969-1989)
21. Reaching Another Frontier (1989-2000)
Epilogue (2000-2010)
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography

Lycoming College, 1812–2012

On the Frontiers of American Education

John F. Piper

Lycoming College, 1812–2012

On the Frontiers of American Education

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