Columbia University Archives: King's College

The list below contains documents from the King's College era. Most of these resources have been scanned and are available online.

• Charters

  • Original charter of Columbia College, in the city of New-York, October 31st, 1754; with the acts of the Legislature, altering and amending the same. New York: Printed for Columbia College by E.B. Clayton, 1936.

  • Charters, acts and official documents together with the lease and re-lease by Trinity church of a portion of the King's farm. Compiled by John B. Pine, Clerk of the Trustees. New York: Printed for the College, June 1895.

• Trustee Minutes
  The University Archives maintains copies of all of the Trustee Minutes from 1754 to the present. These are a particularly useful tool for tracing the history of a department, a specific school's development, or university governance. The Minutes of the University provide official information about numerous topics in the history of Columbia including university governance (e.g., changes to the University statutes), teaching appointments, awards of honorary degrees and certain prizes, endowments, donations of money and materials, real estate purchases, appointments to the Board of Trustees and its various committees, and construction projects. You can access the minutes from the King's College era online:

  • Minutes of the Governors of the College of the Province of New York in the City of New York in America 1755-1768 and of the Corporation of King’s College in the City of New York 1768-1770. New York, 1932.

• The Matricula
  Also known as the "Register of admissions & graduations, & of officers employed in King's College at New-York," this volume lists the registered students and graduates for each year. For example, you can find Alexander Hamilton listed as entering King's College in 1774. In addition, the last entry in the College Matricula for 1776 reads: "No public Commencement this year. The turbulence and confusion which prevail in every part of the Country effectually suppress every literary pursuit."
   
• Book of misdemeanours in King's College (a.k.a. The Black Book), 1771-[1775]
  According to the 1931 foreword, "Myles Cooper, coming to the King's College after seven years at Oxford, did much to fit it into the pattern of his alma mater, and as part of his system of rigid discipline he introduced the Black Book, which had been for centuries a tradition at Queen's College, Oxford." The book contains instances of students being punished for absenting themselves from or talking during prayer sessions. Three handwritings appear in the book, those of Myles Cooper, Robert Harpur and Benjamin Moore.
   
• Alumni Registers
  There are different editions listing the earliest students enrolled at King's College.
  • Fuld, Leonhard Felix. King's College Alumni. New York, 1913 (biographical sketches, organized by class year, for classes 1758 to 1775, material originally appeared in the Columbia Quarterly.)
  • Thomas, Milton Halsey. Columbia University Officers and Alumni 1754-1857. Compiled for the Committee on General Catalogue. New York: Columbia University Press, 1936.
  • Catalogue of matriculants who have not graduated, 1758-1897. Supplement to the General Catalogue of 1894. New York: Published for the University, 1897.
     
• Commencement Collection
  This collection of commencement materials includes some information on the earliest ceremonies held at King's College - mostly in the form of printed microfilm copies of contemporary newspaper accounts. You can find King's College commencement information in Boxes 1, 33 and within Scrapbook Volume 1  of this collection.  These newspaper accounts of King's College commencement are also found in a June 1930 Columbia University Quarterly article compiled and transcribed by Columbiana Curator Milton Halsey Thomas.
   
• In Service to the New Nation: The Life & Legacy of John Jay
  This digital exhibition on John Jay covers his days as a student at King's College, including information about the curriculum (Laws of King's College), the dining plan menus (the Bill of Fare), his fellow students (matriculation register), and even John Jay's M.A. diploma.
   
• King's College Library
  Over 100 volumes originally held in the King's College library can be found in CLIO, the library catalog. Before the Revolutionary War, the  library books were sent to City Hall for safekeeping. During the occupation of New York, British soldiers broke into the room in the old City Hall on Wall Street, where the books were stored and helped themselves. There were even reports of soldiers using these books to buy beer and grog in local taverns. In an attempt to encourage the looters to return the books, proclamations and threats of punishment were printed in both English and German in the New York newspapers, but not much came of these notices. It was not until in 1802 that a portion of the original library was recovered when a large number of books belonging to pre-Revolutionary New York institutions were found in a room in St. Paul’s Chapel. To learn more about the King's College library, see Austin B. Keep, "The Library of King's College," Columbia University Quarterly Vol. 13 (June 1911) 275-284.

The list below contains significant publications concerning the King's College era. Most of these resources have been scanned and are available online.

• A history of Columbia University, 1754-1904: published in commemoration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of King's College. New York: The Columbia University Press, The Macmillan Company, agents; London, Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1904. Compiled for the 150th anniversary celebration, this short volume includes some chapters on the early days of King's College and the transition to Columbia College. For King's College researchers, the appendices include transcriptions of the original advertisement (May 31, 1754), the laws and order (or statutes), and the plan of education (or curriculum).
  • Advertisement of King's College, published May 31th, 1754
  • Laws and Orders of King's College, adopted June 3, 1755
  • Plan of Education of King's College, adopted March 1, 1763
     
• Thomas, Milton Halsey. King's College building with some notes on its later tenants. New York 1955.
  A history of the first building for the College of the Province of New-York or King's College, which was in use from 1759 to 1857. The booklet also includes drawings, diagrams, area maps and a photograph of the site after demolition had commenced in 1857.
   
• Humphrey, David C. From King's College to Columbia, 1746-1800, Columbia University Press, 1976.
  In the course of conducting research for his book From King's College to Columbia, 1746-1800, Humphrey gathered biographical data on students who attended King's College, 1754-1776, and its successor after the American Revolution, Columbia College, 1784-1792. Humphrey's notes in preparation for the book are held by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. These notes include a data sheet for each individual with his related information from a variety of primary and secondary sources. In some cases there are typescript copies of contemporary letters referring to the individual students. Humphrey includes graduates of both the liberal arts and the medical faculties, non-graduates, and several individuals thought to have attended King's College or Columbia College for whom he has cited evidence to the contrary.
   
• Fuld, Leonhard Felix. King's College Alumni. New York, 1913
  Biographical sketches, organized by class year, for classes 1758 to 1775, material originally appeared in the Columbia University Quarterly.
   
• Murray, Catherine Agnes. Student life at King's college and early Columbia college in the city of New York - 1754-1820, 1943 Master's Essay in History (call# COA F43 v.25).
   
• Timelines and Histories
  The University Archives has collected a number of online resources dedicated to the history of Columbia University. Many of these resources, including online timelines and published histories, were created for the different anniversary celebrations and include the history of King's College.
   
• Enrollment Statistics
  We do not have definitive information on the total number of students enrolled during specific academic years for the King’s College and early Columbia College period (1754-1820). In lieu of such information we have compiled statistics noting the number of students graduated and not graduated for a particular class year. These figures were culled from Catalogue of Matriculants Who Have Not Graduated, 1758-1897 (published for the University, 1897) and Columbia University Officers and Alumni, 1754-1857 by Milton Halsey Thomas (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936). This related information will be helpful to the researcher trying to determine how many students were enrolled during this time period.
   
• Clarence H. Vance papers, 1913-1960
  Clarence Hayden Vance (1888-) was a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University from 1927 to 1934.This collection includes the correspondence, manuscripts, transcripts, documents, photographs, and printed materials assembled by Vance for his dissertation, a biography of Myles Cooper (1737-1785), clergyman, Loyalist, and second president of King's College (now, Columbia University) from 1763 until 1775.

For more information on how to access our collections, check out our Research & Access website. If you have any questions about how to find materials or how to access materials, please contact uarchives@columbia.edu.