19th-century

August 5th, 1850

David Dudley Field, Jr. (Class of 1825) gives a ‘literary picnic’ for Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville on Monument Mountain in Great Barrington, MA. Continue reading »

July 18th, 1845

Prof. Ebenezer Kellogg sells the West College garden plot to the college. Formerly used to grow vegetables for student meals, the college constructs a new dormitory, named Kellogg Hall, on the plot. The land is now part of the Science Quad. Continue reading »

August 15th, 1838

Nathaniel Hawthorne attends Williams College’s Commencement. During the summer of 1838, Nathaniel Hawthorne spent several weeks in the Williamstown area. In addition to describing Williams’s August commencement ceremonies, he wrote numerous entries regarding Greylock and its startling cloud formations which he termed ‘cloud-scenery’: “It was like a dream to look… Continue reading »

November 10th, 1836

The faculty vote on the time the prayer bell will be rung. “Hereafter from…November ’till the close of the first term, the prayer bell shall be rung at 1/2 past four on Saturday, Sabbath, and Wednesday evenings.” Source: Williams College Records of the Faculty, 1821-1871. Continue reading »

August 25th, 1835

The first expedition of Williams’s Lyceum of Natural History sails out of Boston bound for the Bay of Fundy and Nova Scotia. The first student expedition ever, the group is lead by Profs. Albert Hopkins and Ebenezer Emmons. Continue reading »

October 29th, 1833

Kappa Alpha is the first fraternity established at Williams. Legend has it that fourteen Williams students traveled to Union College to pick up a Phi Beta Kappa charter, but instead came back with one for the social fraternity. Continue reading »

July 4th, 1832

July 4th riots result in the expulsion of several students. “Voted that Alexander H. Strong, for being engaged in the disorderly conduct at Adams last Saturday, & for being found, on the evening of the 4th of July, disguised in his dress, for the purpose, as he confesses, of throwing… Continue reading »