Most freshmen asked to explain why we attend Johns Hopkins, rather than John Hopkins University would be left looking dumfounded. Hopkins trivia may not exactly be common knowledge. For the benefit of students new and old who may be in the dark, here is a bit of Hopkins history to set the record straight.
According to the JHU Web site, Hopkins is named in honor of one man, the second Johns Hopkins. The southern Maryland native was named after his grandfather, a man bearing his mother's maiden name, Johns. Hopkins' formal education was halted when his Quaker parents freed their slaves and sent him and his brother to tend their fields. He moved to Baltimore at 17 years old to work for his uncle and later, at 24 years old, established his own mercantile house. The school's eventual benefactor later became very financially invested in the nation's first major railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, of which he became director in 1847.
In 1867, Hopkins incorporated both the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital and arranged for the appointment of a 12-member board of trustees for each institution. When he died on Christmas Eve in 1873, he left his massive estate of $7 million to be divided equally between his university and hospital. The gift was the largest philanthropic bequest in United States history until that time.
The first president of the University was Daniel Coit Gilman, who was inaugurated on February 22, 1876. The Hopkins' Board of Trustees selected Gilman, who was serving as president of the University of California at the time, to mold an identity for Hopkins. What Gilman created was a research institution, which was the first university in the United States. founded on the model of the European research institution, in which research and the advancement of knowledge are integrally linked to teaching. He did this with an initial faculty consisting mostly of European or European-trained educators.
"The realization of Gilman's philosophy at Hopkins, and at other institutions that later attracted Hopkins-trained scholars, revolutionized higher education in America, leading to the research university system as it exists today," claims the JHU website.
So folks, those are the basics. However, if you are interested in delving in further, the following are extra historical tidbits about your beloved school. These and others are explained in Mame Warren's book, Johns Hopkins University: Knowledge for the World, a project commemorating the University's 125th anniversary. The book is composed of quotes, interviews and many photos of Hopkins in yesteryear and is available in the library and bookstore. That said, now you know that:
-Hopkins was originally located downtown, in a site chosen for its close proximity to the Peabody Library. A gradual move of Hopkins' programs to the Homewood campus formally began with the Engineering Department in 1914.
-The official Hopkins motto in Latin is "Veritas vos liberabit" meaning "The truth shall make you free."
-Hopkins was founded without any religious affiliation, unlike other universities which have since dropped their affiliation, like Princeton, Yale and Columbia.
-It is falsely rumored that the MSE Library was constructed underground because Gilman's will required that no building be higher than the Gilman Hall clock tower. In reality, the design was selected so as to not overtake the Homewood House and neighboring classroom buildings with an edifice of the library's size. (Gilman died in 1908 and construction on Gilman Hall didn't even begin until 1913.)
-The University did not have female undergraduates until 1970, but there is controversy over who was the first woman to earn a degree from Hopkins. Christine Ladd-Franklin, who completed her studies in 1882, was the first to earn the Ph.D. However, the trustees refused to grant her that degree until 1926. In the meantime, Florence Bascom earned and received her Ph.D. in 1893.
-The lacrosse tradition here at Hopkins goes back a long way. The school earned its first national title in 1891 as a member of the Intercollegiate League. The Hopkins Lacrosse team also represented the United States by winning a gold medal in the 1928 and '32 Olympics, and has the record for the most Division I tournament titles with seven.
