It’s one thing to know that Amherst College was founded in 1821. It’s another to see it.
To mark the College’s 2021 Bicentennial, librarians in Frost undertook a massive digitization effort. They’ve now scanned, organized and posted online many hundreds of archival items, including 241 treasures that document the first several years of the College.
Browse the database and be transported to the 19th century. You can almost feel the crumbly paper.
Ledgers show local participation in the 1818–19 Charity Fund, for example, which led to the 1821 creation of the Amherst Collegiate Institution. An 1821 letter describes the resignation of Zephaniah Swift Moore from Williams, paving the way for his Amherst presidency. Other items include the 1825 charter granted by the Massachusetts legislature and a stereograph image of Amity Street.
View the Early Amherst History Collection, and other Frost digital collections, at acdc.amherst.edu.
Photos from Amherst College Archives
