Page 4 - 1907 February - To Dragma

To Dragma

OF

Alpha Omicron Pi

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY.

New York in 1829 was already a city of prominence in the
Republic. The forty years that had followed the inauguration of
Washington had seen great changes and much development. I n 1825
the foundation of the city's commercial greatness had been secured
by the opening of the Erie Canal, and since the year 1820 immi-
grants had been coming in in large numbers. There was thus a
diverse, populous community, one f u l l of energy, and well on its
way to attain prosperity.

Public movements in New York toward the furtherance of
benevolence and education were rife. On December 16, 1829, oc-
curred a gathering of much importance in the educational history of
New York City. This was a meeting of nine citizens—J. M .
Mathews, J. M . Wainwright, J. Augustine Smith, Valentine Mott,
Joseph Delafield, Myndert Van Schaick, Hugh Maxwell, Isaac S.
Hone, and John Delafield.

"The establishment of a university in this city, on a liberal and
extensive foundation, has for some time past occupied the attention
of many of our respectable citizens," reads a call signed by these
nine, and issued shortly after. This call summoned a representative
body of citizens to a meeting on January 6, 1830, at the rooms of
the Historical Society.

The outcome of the movement inaugurated by these meetings
was New York University, or as it was at first called, the Univer-