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A selection of people, places, and things from Middlebury’s history. 

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Founders and Trustees

Julian Willis Abernethy

1853-1923
Class of 1876
Trustee 1901-1923
Bibliophile, educator, and donor of the Abernethy Library 

Gertrude Cornish Milliken

1880-1969
Class of 1901
First woman trustee, 1948-1969

Ezra Brainerd

1844-1924
Class of 1864
8th president of Middlebury College (1886-1907)
Trustee 1908-1924 
Accomplished botanist specializing in violets

Calvin Hulbert

1827-1917
6th president of Middlebury College 1875-1880
Trustee 1866-1975

Harvey Kitchel

1812-1895
Class of 1835 
5th president of Middlebury College (1866-1873)
 

Joshua Bates

1776-1854
3rd president of Middlebury College (1818-1839)
Old Chapel built under his tenure

Jeremiah Atwater

1773–1858
1st president of Middlebury College (1800-1809)
Trustee 1800-1809

Nathaniel Chipman

1752-1843
Trustee 1800-1843
Professor of Law at Middlebury College 1816-1843
Senator, Chief Justice of Vermont Supreme Court, Vermont State Legislator

Seth Storrs

1756-1837
Trustee 1800-1837
Middlebury town clerk from 1801-1831
Donated the land for the original campus

William Parker

1809-1889
Class of 1830
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 1848-1881
Treasurer of the College 1855-1884
Trustee 1855-1889

Brainerd Kellogg

1834-1920
Class of 1858
Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature 1861-1868
Trustee 1885-1920

Lyman Matthews

1801-1866
Class of 1822
Trustee 1847-1866
Pastor and farmer 

Gamaliel Painter

1742-1819
Among earliest White settlers of Addison County
Judge, sheriff, Vermont State Legislator 
Bequeathed entire estate to Middlebury, including his cane

Thomas Merrill

1780-1855
Tutor at Middlebury 1804-1805
Trustee 1806-1855

Joel Doolittle

1771-1844
First tutor at Middlebury 1800-1801
Trustee 1819-1841
Judge in Vermont Supreme Court 1817-1822, 1824 and Vermont State Legislator 

Joseph Warner

1803-1865
Trustee 1850-1865
First Cashier of the National Bank of Middlebury 1831-1865
Warner Science Hall named for him

Daniel Chipman

1765-1850
Trustee 1800-1844
Professor of Law at Middlebury College from 1806-1816
Congressman, Vermont Speaker of the House
Chipman Hill in northeast Middlebury named for him

Samuel Miller

1764-1810
Trustee 1800-1810
2nd Treasurer of Middlebury 1803-1806

Ira Stewart

1779-1855
Trustee 1819-1855
Stewart Hall and Stewart-Swift Research Center at the Sheldon Museum named for him

Presidents

Laurie Patton

17th president of Middlebury College (2015-)
First woman president 

Ronald D. Liebowitz

16th president of Middlebury College (2004-2015) 

John Malcolm McCardell

15th president of Middlebury College (1992-2004)

Timothy Light

14th president of Middlebury College (1990-1991) 

Olin Robison

13th president of Middlebury (1975-1990)
 

James Isbell Armstrong

12th president of Middlebury (1963-1975) 
Initiated first tenure system at Middlebury

Samuel S. Stratton

1898-1969
11th president of Middlebury (1942-1963)
Established Navy V-12 Training Program, saving the College from financial ruin

Paul Dwight Moody

1879-1947
10th president of Middlebury (1921-1942)

John Martin Thomas

1869-1952
9th president of Middlebury (1908-1921) 
Served as a US Army chaplain during WWI, while president 

Ezra Brainerd

1844-1924
Class of 1864
8th president of Middlebury College (1886-1907)
Trustee 1908-1924 
Accomplished botanist specializing in violets

Cyrus Hamlin

1811-1900
7th president of Middlebury (1880-1885) 

Calvin Hulbert

1827-1917
6th president of Middlebury College 1875-1880
Trustee 1866-1975

Harvey Kitchel

1812-1895
Class of 1835 
5th president of Middlebury College (1866-1873)

Benjamin Labaree

1801-1883
4th president of Middlebury (1840-1866) 

Joshua Bates

1776-1854
3rd president of Middlebury College (1818-1839)
Old Chapel built under his tenure

Henry Davis

1771-1852
2nd president of Middlebury (1810-1817)

Jeremiah Atwater

1773–1858
1st president of Middlebury College (1800-1809)
Trustee 1800-1809

Faculty

Viola Chittenden White

1890-1977
First curator of the Abernethy Library of American Literature (1933-1956)
Assistant Professor 
Librarian, writer, naturalist, diarist, hiker 

Marjorie Lamberti

Second woman to be appointed to full professor at Middlebury 
Charles A. Dana Professor of History (1964-2002) 
Namesake of Marjorie Lamberti Faculty Appreciation Award

Rhoda Mabel White

Middlebury’s first Dean of Women (1909-1911)
First woman faculty member

Eleanor Sybil Ross

xxxx-1953
Class of 1895
Assistant Professor of English 
Dean of Women (1915-1944) 
Middlebury’s first alumna administrator
Early member of the Advisory Board of the Women’s College

Ezra Brainerd

1844-1924
Class of 1864
8th president of Middlebury College (1886-1907)
Trustee 1908-1924 
Accomplished botanist specializing in violets

Harvey Kitchel

1812-1895
Class of 1835 
5th president of Middlebury College (1866-1873)

Nathaniel Chipman

1752-1843
Trustee 1800-1843
Professor of Law at Middlebury College 1816-1843
Senator, Chief Justice of Vermont Supreme Court, Vermont State Legislator
 

Frederick Hall

1780-1843
Middlebury’s first Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Frederick Hall (1808-1824)
Tutor at Middlebury College from 1805-1806
Hired at twice the salary of then President Jeremiah Atwater 
Insisted that the trustees allow him to spend two years in Europe attending universities and scientific lectures, and acquiring books, scientific apparatus, and mineral specimens that constituted the foundation of the College’s scientific resources throughout the 19th century.

Henry Martyn Seely

1828-1917 
Professor of Chemistry, Natural History, and Geology at Middlebury (1861-1895)
His former residence at 3 South Street has served s the official residence of Middlebury College presidents since 1917. 

Edwin Higley

1843-1916 
Class of 1868
Professor of Greek and German at Middlebury College (1872 -1882)
Served in the First Regiment of the Vermont Cavalry (1861-1865), captured by the Confederates and imprisoned from July 29, 1864-March, 1865. (Higley resumed his studies five months after his release.)



 

Thomas Boyce

1851-1943
Class of 1876
Professor of Mathematics (1886-1895)
Private Secretary to Joseph Battell (1896-1915), surveying and farming, and representing Battell in his purchase of private lands in the Green Mountain National Forest that eventually would be bequeathed by Battell to the College

William Parker

1809-1889
Class of 1830
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 1848-1881
Treasurer of the College 1855-1884
Trustee 1855-1889

William Fowler

1793-1881
Professor of Chemistry and Natural History (1827-1838)
Member of the Massachusetts Assembly and the Connecticut Senate
Edited the university edition of Webster’s Dictionary for his father-in-law Noah Webster

John Hough

1783-1861
Professor of Greek and Latin Languages (1812-1817, 1825-1838)
Professor of Theology (1817-1825) 
Appointed the first Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, 1838. (Hough resented this Trustee decision and refused to lecture on English literature. As a result, he was dismissed in 1839.)

Brainerd Kellogg

1834-1920
Class of 1858
Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature 1861-1868
Trustee 1885-1920

Thomas Merrill

1780-1855
Tutor at Middlebury 1804-1805
Trustee 1806-1855

Joel Doolittle

1771-1844
First tutor at Middlebury 1800-1801
Trustee 1819-1841
Judge in Vermont Supreme Court 1817-1822, 1824 and Vermont State Legislator 

Daniel Chipman

1765-1850
Trustee 1800-1844
Professor of Law at Middlebury College from 1806-1816
Congressman, Vermont Speaker of the House
Chipman Hill in northeast Middlebury named for him

Alumni

Julian Willis Abernethy

1853-1923
Class of 1876
Trustee 1901-1923
Bibliophile, educator, and donor of the Abernethy Library

May Belle Chellis

Class of 1886
First woman to graduate Middlebury 
Greek Prize winner, awarded Phi Beta Kappa, and delivered her essay “The Growth of Criticism” at Commencement

Eleanor Sybil Ross

xxxx-1953
Class of 1895
Assistant Professor of English 
Dean of Women (1915-1944) 
Middlebury’s first alumna administrator
Early member of the Advisory Board of the Women’s College

Gertrude Cornish Milliken

1880-1969
Class of 1901
First woman trustee, 1948-1969

Charlotte May Johnson

Class of 1901
Principal and educator at the Bridgman Memorial School and Missionary in Shanghai, China 

Mary Anderson

Class of 1899
First woman of color to graduate from Middlebury College 
First woman of color to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa honor society
As Valedictorian, she delivered a Commencement address entitled “The Crown of Culture.”
Professor at Straight University in New Orleans, Louisiana and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Ezra Brainerd

1844-1924
Class of 1864
8th president of Middlebury College (1886-1907)
Trustee 1908-1924 
Accomplished botanist specializing in violets

Harvey Kitchel

1812-1895
Class of 1835 
5th president of Middlebury College (1866-1873)

Martin Henry Freeman

1826-1889
Class of 1849
First African-American Professor and College President in the U.S. at Allegheny Institute (later Avery College), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1851-1862)
President (1868-) and Professor of Mathematics (1863-1868), Liberia College in Monrovia, Liberia

Asa Hemenway

1810-1892
Class of 1835
Missionary, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions at Bangkok, Siam (1839-1850) 
Pastor in Vermont and New York (1850-1872)

Jesse Caswell

1809-1848
Class of 1832
Agent of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions from 1838-1839, missionary in Siam
Tutor to the Crown Prince of Siam, later King Mongkut

Nathaniel Preston

1804-1866
Class of 1831

Alexander Twilight

1795-1857
Class of 1832
First person of color to graduate from an American college
First person of color to serve as representative to the State Legislature in 1836
Principal and educator at Orleans County Grammar School in Brownington, Vermont (1829-1847, 1852-1855) 

Jehudi Ashmun

1794-1828
Studied at Middlebury 1812-1814, University of Vermont class of 1816
appointed official representative of the United States government to the Liberian mission, American Colonization Society
Governor of the Liberian colony (1822-1827) 

Levi Parsons

1792-1822
Class of 1814
Appointed to the first Palestine Mission by he American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1819-1822)

Pliny Fisk

1792-1825
Class of 1814
Appointed to the first Palestine Mission by he American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Smyrna and Egypt (1819-1823)
Missionary in Jerusalem (1823-1825) 

Edwin Higley

1843-1916 
Class of 1868
Professor of Greek and German at Middlebury College (1872 -1882)
Served in the First Regiment of the Vermont Cavalry (1861-1865), captured by the Confederates and imprisoned from July 29, 1864-March, 1865. (Higley resumed his studies five months after his release.)

Aldace Walker

1842-1901
Class of 1862
Valedictorian, delivered commencement address in Civil War uniform

Brainerd Kellogg

1834-1920
Class of 1858
Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature 1861-1868
Trustee 1885-1920

Cephas Rockwood

1786-1844
Class of 1808

William Parker

1809-1889
Class of 1830
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 1848-1881
Treasurer of the College 1855-1884
Trustee 1855-1889

Lyman Matthews

1801-1866
Class of 1822
Trustee 1847-1866
Pastor and farmer 

Architecture and Landscapes

Academy Building

Built 1798 after Chipman, Storrs, Painter, and Miller formed the Addison County Grammar School Corporation
Housed both College and Grammar School from 1800-1805
Burned 1904 and rebuilt serving the town as the College Street Graded School
Acquired by Middlebury in 1984, renamed Twilight Hall in honor of Alexander Lucius Twilight, Middlebury Class of 1823

Athletic Fields

Core of the Middlebury College campus
Originally used as athletic fields adjacent to the McCullough Gymnasium

Academy Park

Land donated by Seth Storrs

Painter Hall

Built 1814-1816
Oldest extant college building in Vermont
First building built on Old Stone Row 

Warner Hall

Built 1901
Gift of Ezra J. Warner, class 1861

Middlebury Chapel

Built 1916
Gift of ex-governor John A. Mead, class of 1864

Starr Hall

Built 1860 with funds donated by Charles and Egbert Starr
Burned 1864 and rebuilt within the old shell with further donations by the Starr brothers

Hepburn Hall

Built 1914-1916
Gift of A. Barton Hepburn Class of 1871
Middlebury’s first fireproof dormitory
Built with yellow brick, painted gray after Hepburn’s death

Voter Hall

Built 1912-1913 as Chemistry building
Lower floors were renovated to house the College’s network and computer center, 1988 

McCullough Gym

Built 1912
Funded largely by ex-governor John G. McCullough
The gymnasium served first men, then (after 1949) women
Arthur M. Brown Swimming Pool added 1963

Pearsons Hall

Built 1911
First Middlebury structure built for women
Named for D.K. Pearsons of Chicago, who encouraged and helped fund the project

Starr Library

Built 1900
Now the Axinn Center, named for donor Donald Everett Axinn ’51

Kitchel House

Built by College President Kitchell in 1867
Used as first housing for women in 1891

Old Chapel

Built 1836
Second building on Old Stone Row

Bread Loaf Campus

Land bequeathed to Middlebury in 1915 by Joseph Battell
Home of the summer School of English and the Writers’ Conference
 

College Publications

Middlebury Campus

1905-present 
First a monthly, then a weekly publication 

The Undergraduate

1830-1831 and 1876-1902

Middlebury News Letter

1926-1983
Since the early 1980’s, The Middlebury College News Letter‘s tradition has been continued by Middlebury Magazine

The essays under the category Architecture & landscapes are taken from Glenn Andres’ Walking History of Middlebury and are used with his permission. The essays for several of the twentieth and twenty-first century College presidents are adapted from David Haward Bain’s The College on the Hill and are used with his permission.