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The Beginnings
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1865 An act of Congress provided that the nine blind students at the Institution be transferred to the Maryland Institution for the Blind and changed the name of the Institution to the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. The College division also changed its name to the National Deaf-Mute College.


1866 Melville Ballard became the first graduate of the College with a bachelor of science degree. Twenty-five students from 16 states attended the College.


1867 Gallaudet toured a number of European countries to study communication methods used in prominent schools for deaf students. Upon his return, he recommended that speech and lipreading classes be introduced into the Primary Department curriculum for students "who showed facility in oral exercises."


1868 A group of principals of 17 existing schools for deaf students across the country met at Gallaudet's invitation at the Institution and passed a resoultion stating that instruction in speech and lipreading be provided to pupils who were likely to benefit.


1869 Kendall died five months after the first commencement during which three men received degrees for having completed the entire four-year course of studies. The remaining 81 acres of Kendall's estate were sold to the Institution for $85,000.
The President of the United States (starting with Ulysses S. Grant in 1869), as patron of the University, signs all diplomas.


1880
Alexander Graham Bell delivered the commencement address and was awarded an honorary doctoral degree. Gallaudet and James Denison, deaf principal of the Primary Department, represented the Institution at an international convention of instructors of the deaf held in Milan, Italy. [photo]
College Hall and Chapel Hall around 1880
Gallaudet boasted the D.C. area's first indoor swimming pool when its gymnasium opened in 1880. This was the second indoor pool in the nation. Harvard University claims the first.
1885 With its move into a new building, named in honor of Amos Kendall, the Primary Department became known as the Kendall School.
1887
[photo]
Women students enjoying a break from studies		 Six women were admitted on an experimental basis to the College's introductory class. The admission of women became permanent the following year. Initially they lived on the third floor of the president's house.


1889 The statue of Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell, executed by sculptor Daniel Chester French, a gift of alumni and friends of the College, was unveiled on campus. The next day, the College alumni met to establish an alumni association.


1893
[photo]
Kendall School around 1880		 Agatha Tiegel finished the full collegiate course of studies - at the top of her class of 12 - and became the first woman to receive a bachelor of arts degree from the College. In the previous year, Alto Lowman had received a bachelor of philosphy degree.


1893 At the request of the alumni association, the name of the College was changed to Gallaudet College in honor of T.H. Gallaudet.
Seventeen acres at the front of the campus are registered as the Gallaudet College Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district includes Chapel Hall, College Hall, The houses on Faculty Row, and "Ole Jim." This area of campus and its original grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, a well-known landscape architect, noted for his design of New York's Central Park.
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