Editing Colby College (section)

==History==

=== 19th century ===
On February 27, 1813, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, led by [[Baptists]], adopted a petition to establish the Maine Literary and Theological Institution.<ref name="ReferenceB">Mayflower Hill, A History of Colby College, Earl Smith, University Press of New England, 2006</ref> It was moved to [[Waterville, Maine]], and used 179 acres of land donated by citizens. In 1818, trustees assigned the institution to [[Jeremiah Chaplin]] and classes began in a vacant Waterville home.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> After Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820, the first [[Maine legislature]] affirmed the Massachusetts charter for the institution, but made significant changes. Students could no longer be denied admission based on religion, the institution was prohibited from applying a religious test when selecting board members, and the trustees now had the authority to grant degrees. The Maine Literary and Theological Institution was renamed Waterville College on February 5, 1821, and four years later, the theological department was discontinued.<ref name="MAGDE">{{cite book |last= Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums |editor=Doris A. Isaacson |title=Maine: A Guide 'Down East' |year=1970 |publisher=Courier-Gazette, Inc. |location=Rockland, Me | pages = 226–227 }}</ref> In 1828 the trustees decided to turn the somewhat informal preparatory department of the college into a separate school named Waterville Academy (most recently called the [[Coburn Classical Institute]]).<ref>"Little Talks #749" Colby College Special Collections. December 31, 1967. Accessed at {{cite web |url=http://web.colby.edu/specialcollections/2011/01/17/lt749-readonly/ |title=Read-Only |access-date=2016-04-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061442/http://web.colby.edu/specialcollections/2011/01/17/lt749-readonly/ |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref>

[[File:Colbiana- North College buildings, Original Campus.jpg|thumb|left|A lithograph depicting the Waterville College campus in 1834]]
In 1833, [[Rufus Babcock]] became Colby's second president. That same year, students formed the nation's first college-based anti-slavery society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colby.edu/education/activism/stories/antislavery.html|title=A People's History of Colby College: Activism and Social Justice Since 1813 » Home|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> In 1845, the college's first Greek Society was formed, a chapter of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]], which was followed by chapters of [[Zeta Psi]] in 1850 and [[Delta Upsilon]] in 1852.<ref>Colby College 1820-1925: An Account of Its Beginnings, Progress and Service, Edwin Carey Whittemore</ref>

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], many young men were called away from school to join the fight; from Waterville College, [[Richard C. Shannon]], [[Henry C. Merriam]], and [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]]. Twenty-seven Waterville College students perished in the war, and more than 100 men from the town. In the years following the war, as was the case at many American colleges, Waterville College was left with few students remaining to pay the bills and a depleted endowment. The college was on the verge of closing.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

On August 9, 1865, prominent Baptist philanthropist [[Gardner Colby]] attended Waterville College's commencement dinner, and unbeknownst to anyone in attendance except college president [[James Tift Champlin]], announced a matching $50,000 donation to the college; two years later the college was named after him.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal|url=http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbiana_books/4/#b.mon.tag|title=Colby College 1820-1925: An Account of Its Beginnings, Progress and Service|first=Whittemore, Edwin|last=Carey|date=12 November 2018|journal=Digital Commons @ Colby}}</ref> Trustees of the college voted to construct a library and chapel to honor the Colby men who died in the war, called the Memorial Hall; it was dedicated at the commencement of 1869.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> The college remained isolated from neighboring [[Bates College]], and [[Bowdoin College]] due to its location in Waterville, coupled with socio-economic and political differences.<ref name=":042">{{Cite book|title = Traditionally Unconventional|last = Woz|first = Markus|publisher = Bates College|year = 2002|location = Ladd Library, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine|pages = 6|quote = "...Colby remained distant from the two colleges for sometime before opening up athletically in the early 40s.."}}</ref> At the 1871 commencement, a [[Martin Milmore]] sculpture based on the ''[[Lion Monument|Lion of Lucerne]]'' was added as the centerpiece of the building.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libguides.colby.edu/content.php?pid=240829|title=LibGuides: Lion of Lucerne: Home|first=Pat|last=Burdick|website=libguides.colby.edu}}</ref>

[[File:Mary Caffrey Low 1875.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Mary Caffrey Low]], the first female graduate of the college and valedictorian of the class of 1875]]
In the fall of 1871, Colby University was the first all-male college in New England to accept female students.<ref name="MAGDE" /> The national [[Sigma Kappa]] sorority was founded at Colby in 1874 by the college's first five female students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sigmakappa.org/about/default.asp?page=history |title=Sigma Kappa Sorority |access-date=2008-08-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707102527/http://www.sigmakappa.org/about/default.asp?page=history |archive-date=2007-07-07 }}</ref> However the college resegregated them in 1890.<ref name="Wright2">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/newcenturybookf00unkngoog|quote=university of illinois coeducational 1870.|title=The New Century Book of Facts|last=Davidson Wright|first=Carol|publisher=The King-Richardson Company|year=1909|page=[https://archive.org/details/newcenturybookf00unkngoog/page/n1046 986]}}</ref> One of the buildings is named after the first woman to attend, [[Mary Caffrey Low]], who was the valedictorian of the class of 1875.<ref name="colby.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.colby.edu/about_cs/history.cfm|title=Colby's History – About|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> In 1874, based on the success of its partnership with the [[Coburn Classical Institute]], Colby created relationships with [[Hebron Academy]] and Houlton Academy (most recently known as [[Ricker College]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ricker.net/rickerh.htm|title=Ricker – Ricker College – Ricker Classical Institute|date=2 December 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981202084957/http://www.ricker.net/rickerh.htm |accessdate=24 July 2023|archive-date=1998-12-02 }}</ref> In 1893, the Higgins Classical Institute was also deeded to Colby – the last preparatory school that the university would acquire.<ref>History of the Baptists in Maine, by Henry Sweetser Burrage. p 437, Marks Printing House, 1904</ref> Students published the first issue of ''[[The Colby Echo]]'' in 1877. On January 25, 1899, Colby president [[Nathaniel Butler Jr.]] '73, renamed the "university" Colby College.<ref name="auto"/>

=== 20th century ===
In 1920, Colby celebrated its centennial, marking not the date of the original charter (1813), but the date of its charter from the new State of Maine in 1820.

In June 1929, [[Franklin W. Johnson]] was appointed president of the college. That same year saw the public release of the Maine Higher Education Survey Report, which gave Colby's campus a less than desirable review. Criticisms included a cramped location on just 28 acres located between the [[Kennebec River]] and the [[Maine Central Railroad Company]] tracks through Waterville, an aging physical plant, proximity to the unpleasant odors of a pulp mill, and the soot of the railroad. Using the report as justification, President Johnson presented a proposal to the Trustees on June 14, 1929, to move the college to a more adequate location .<ref name="ReferenceB" /> The campaign to raise funds for the move was immediately complicated by the [[Wall Street crash of 1929]] and the [[Great Depression]], and competing offers for the college's contemplated location emerged.<ref>''The Man of Mayflower Hill: A Biography of Franklin W. Johnson'', by Ernest C. Marriner, Colby College Press, 1968</ref> Most notably, William H. Gannett offered a site in [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]], a financially attractive option for the college, but a troublesome prospect for the town of Waterville. Ultimately, a joint effort between Waterville citizens and the college raised more than $100,000 to purchase {{convert|600|acres|km2}} near the outskirts of the city on Mayflower Hill, and the deed was presented to the college on April 12, 1931.<ref>''Mayflower Hill: A History of Colby College'', Earl H. Smith, University Press of New England, 2006. pp 36–50.</ref>

====Mayflower Hill====
[[File:Colby College Campus from the air, Waterville, Maine (87290).jpg|thumb|right|An illustration of the Mayflower Hill campus, circa 1945.]]
In 1937, according to master plans drawn up by [[Jens Fredrick Larson]], construction broke ground on Lorimer Chapel, the first building on the new Mayflower Hill campus. In 1956, the Maine State Highway Commission diverted the proposed path of [[Interstate 95 in Maine|Interstate 95]] to swing clear of the new campus to the west,<ref>http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Default/Skins/ColbyCollege/Client.asp?Skin=ColbyCollege&AppName=2&AW=1443640212710 {{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and in 1961, ''[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]]'' magazine called the 24-mile section of I-95 from Augusta to Waterville "America's finest example of a 'driver's road' for scenery, speed, and safety."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/50interstate2.cfm|title=The Greatest Decade 1956-1966 – Interstate System – Highway History – Federal Highway Administration|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> The college began competing athletically with Bowdoin and Bates in the 1940s, and officially joined the two colleges in the [[Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium]] in 1965, after the University of Maine increased enrollment and moved to another athletic conference. The consortium became an athletic rivalry and academic exchange program.

=== 21st century ===
[[File:Johnson Pond Colby College.jpg|left|thumb|Johnson Pond.]]
[[File:Colbiana- South College Hall, Original Campus.jpg|thumb|South College of the original Waterville College campus]]
[[William D. Adams]] was the President of Colby from 2000 to 2014. Major accomplishments included conducting the largest capital campaign in the history of Maine, which raised $376 million;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/09/news/mid-maine/colby-college-president-to-retire-next-year/|title=Colby College president to retire next year|first1=Alex|last1=Barber|first2=B. D. N.|last2=Staff|date=10 January 2013|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> a new strategic plan for the college; accepting a major gift for the [[Colby College Museum of Art]] – the Lunder Collection of American Art – and the construction of a new wing for the museum to house it in 2013;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colby.edu/administration_cs/president/upload/ColbyStratPlan.pdf|title=Office of the President|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> expansion onto the "Colby Green" with the construction of the Diamond Building in 2007 and the Davis Science Building in 2014. In 2014, a documentary was created depicting a wide range of student experiences, including academic climate, social gatherings, athletics, and graduate outlooks, called ''Colby Life''.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/GI3X5iBX0TA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20181024132432/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI3X5iBX0TA Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=Daria Jones|title=Colby Life Documentary|date=2014-11-14|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI3X5iBX0TA|access-date=2016-04-21}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On July 1, 2014, [[David Greene (university administrator)|David Greene]] took office as the new president of the college.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.colby.edu/magazine/called-to-action/|title=Called to Action, ''Colby Magazine'', Summer 2014 Ed.|accessdate=24 July 2023}}</ref>