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Chartered by the state
of Georgia in 1835, the university commenced
operations in 1838 with four faculty members
and about 25 students at Midway, a small
community near Milledgeville, then the capital
of Georgia. Oglethorpe’s most distinguished
alumnus from the antebellum era was poet,
critic and musician Sidney Lanier, who
graduated in 1860. The university closed in
1862 due to the Civil War when its students
were soldiers, its endowment was lost in
Confederate bonds and its buildings were used
for barracks and hospitals. In 1870, the
institution was briefly relocated in Atlanta at
the site of the present City Hall. At this
time, Oglethorpe produced several educational
innovations, expanding its curriculum to
business and law courses and offering the first
evening college classes in Georgia. However, in
1872, Oglethorpe closed its doors for a second
time.
Oglethorpe University was re-chartered in
1913, and in 1915 the cornerstone to the new
campus was laid at its present location on
Peachtree Road in Atlanta. Dr. Thornwell
Jacobs, who was the driving force behind the
university’s revival and who intended the new
campus to be a "living memorial" to James
Edward Oglethorpe, became the president for
nearly three decades. During Jacobs’ tenure, he
launched several projects that brought national
and international repute to Oglethorpe
including finding the tomb of James and
Elizabeth Oglethorpe in England; conferring
honorary doctorates to recognize superior civic
and scientific achievement to such notables as
Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart; and developing the
Crypt of Civilization, the first modern
time capsule which is located on the campus and
is not to be opened until the year 8113 A.D.
In 1944, Oglethorpe University began a new
era under noted attorney and educator Dr.
Philip Weltner. With a group of faculty
associates, Dr. Weltner initiated an exciting
approach to undergraduate education called the
"Oglethorpe Idea." It involved one of the
earliest efforts to develop a core curriculum,
with the twin aims to "make a life and to make
a living." The Oglethorpe core, which was
applauded by The New York Times, aimed at a
common learning experience for students with
about one-half of every student’s academic
program consisting of courses in "Citizenship"
and "Human Understanding." The core curriculum
remains an integral part of an Oglethorpe
education today.
As Oglethorpe University continues to grow,
academically and materially, it is ever mindful
of its distinguished heritage and will still
remain, in the affectionate words of poet and
alumnus Sidney Lanier, "a college of the
heart." Oglethorpe University is listed
on
Georgia's Registry of Historic Places.
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