New York Central College

New York Central College
Main building, 1850.
The first two floors held classrooms and the third a dormitory for male students.
Other name
Central College, McGrawville
Active1849–1860
FounderCyrus Pitt Grosvenor
Religious affiliation
Baptist
Students100–200
Location
McGraw (at the time called McGrawville), Cortland County
,
New York
,
13101
,
United States

42°35′46″N 76°05′35″W / 42.5961°N 76.0931°W / 42.5961; -76.0931

New York Central College, commonly called New York Central College, McGrawville, and simply Central College, was a short-lived college founded in McGraw, New York, in 1848 by abolitionist Baptists led by Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor.[1] The first college in the United States founded on the principle that all qualified students were welcome,[2] it was sponsored by the American Baptist Free Mission Society, of which Grosvenor was a vice-president.[3]

It was chartered by New York State in April 1848, laid the cornerstone of its main building on July 4, and opened in September 1849. The school was further distinguished by both being radically anti-slavery and committed to the equality of the sexes.[4] It has been called a predecessor of Cornell University.[5][6]: 38 

The college was primarily a large preparatory school, and lasted about 10 years. Students at the college level were never more than a small minority of the student body. At the first commencement in 1855, there were five graduates among a student body of well over 100, including some enrolled at the primary level. Nonetheless, it was not an academy, whose studies ended at the high school level, but offered education beyond.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Star was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Brawley, Benjamin (1976). Early Negro American writers: selections with biographical and critical introductions. Originally published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1935. Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press. p. 13. ISBN 0836902467.
  3. ^ American Baptist Free Mission Society (1851). Anti-slavery missions: review of the operations of the American Baptist Free Mission Society, for the past year. Bristol, New York. p. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Calkins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Wright, Albert Hazen (1960). Pre-Cornell and Early Cornell VIII. Cornell's Three Precursors. I. New York Central College. Cornell University. Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hall was invoked but never defined (see the help page).