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Library
Staff > Collection Management
and Special Collections Division > Special
Collections
Highlights of Special Collections
The University of Maryland Libraries' Special Collections are home to
an amazing diversity of materials.
The University of Maryland Libraries has acquired one of the earliest
known letters detailing plans for the Maryland Agricultural College.
The college was chartered in 1856 and would ultimately become the
University of Maryland, College Park, in 1920.
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| Charles Benedict Calvert sent the hand-written letter on September
29, 1858 to J.C. Nicholson, a Baltimore businessman. Calvert was a
central figure in the founding of the college and a member of the
Board of Trustees, as well as a well-known philanthropist, planter
and congressman. He served as acting president of the college from
1859-1860. |
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| In the letter to Nicholson, Calvert talks about his early plans
for the college. “We expect to teach everything that is taught
in the best Universities,” he writes. He goes on to say “we
shall require every student to learn Scientific and practical agriculture
and mechanics which of course will require him to engage at certain
hours in all the outdoor operations of the farm and work shops.”
Calvert mentions laying the cornerstone for one of the two major buildings
erected for the opening of the college and expresses regret that it
is not yet operational. The college formally opened its doors on October
6, 1859.
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