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The Encyclopedia includes entries about important people, places, and organizations in Dickinson College history. Search or browse through the Encyclopedia here.

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A. H. L. - From 1894 Microcosm

A. H. L. was a local sorority established at Dickinson College in 1893. The only information about the group appears in the 1894 Microcosm, shown at left, though no explanation or description of its functions is given. The group is not...

Organization Type: Special Interest Groups
Adams Hall, 1963

Located at the southern end of the Benjamin Rush campus, Adams Hall was dedicated as a women’s dormitory on October 5, 1963. Authorized in December 1960, the hall was designed by architect Elmer H. Adams and constructed at a cost of $1,031,000....

Rolland Leroy Adams, 1956

Rolland Adams was born on December 27, 1904 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania to Lemuel B. and Carrie Adams. He attended Dickinson College as a member of the class of 1927, during which time he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Adams then completed...

College Relationship: Alumnus/Alumna, Honorary Degree, Trustee
Year: Class of 1927
Wilbur Louis Adams

Wilbur Adams was born on October 23, 1884 in Georgetown, Delaware, the son of William and Sarah Adams. He graduated from Georgetown High School and began his college career at Delaware College in Newark, but in 1902 he joined the class of 1905 at...

College Relationship: Alumnus/Alumna
Year: Class of 1905
Samuel Agnew

Samuel Agnew was born August 10, 1777 in Millerstown, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the son of James and Mary Ramsey Agnew. He studied first under the Rev. Matthew Dobbin near his home and then entered Dickinson College in Carlisle. He graduated...

College Relationship: Alumnus/Alumna, Trustee
Year: Class of 1798
32nd College Training Detachment by an airplane, 1944

During the Second World War, Dickinson College became the site of an army air corps training program. Beginning on March 1, 1943, a large segment of the campus was used by the Thirty-Second College Training (Air-Crew) Detachment. The College...

Joseph B. Akers, 1858

Joseph Benson Akers was born on February 3, 1829 in Akersville, Brush Creek Township in Fulton County, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest son of carding mill owner Israel Akers and his wife, Elizabeth Lewis Akers. The younger Akers was educated...

College Relationship: Alumnus/Alumna
Year: Class of 1858
Charles Albright

Birth: December 13, 1830; Berks County, Pennsylvania

Death: September 28, 1880 (age 49); Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania

Military Service: USA, 1862-65

Unit:  132nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 34th Pennsylvania...

College Relationship: Alumnus/Alumna, Trustee
Year: Class of 1852

Birth: April, 6 1828; New Castle County, Delaware

Death: August 8, 1862 (age 34); Front Royal, Virginia

Military service: USA, 1861-62

Unit: 3rd Delaware Infantry

Alma Mater: Dickinson College, B.A. (Class of 1856)...

College Relationship: Alumnus/Alumna
Year: Class of 1856
George J. Allan, c.1975

Born in 1935, George Allan was educated at Grinnell College, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1957. He went on to earn his master's degree in systematic theology at the Union Theological Seminary and was then awarded a Ph.D. in...

College Relationship: Faculty, Honorary Degree, President

Merle Allen was born on May 28, 1888 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania to Josiah Thomas and Ellen Houser Allen. He studied business in the Philadelphia School of Commerce. In 1907 Allen began work with a newspaper, but he soon switched to the...

College Relationship: Trustee
Portrait of William Henry Allen

William Henry Allen was born in Readfield, Maine on March 27, 1808 to Jonathan and Thankful Allen. To prepare for college, Allen attended the Maine Wesleyan Seminary before entering Bowdoin College in 1829. Upon graduation four years later, Allen...

College Relationship: Faculty, President, Trustee
Allison Hall (2013-present)

Allison Hall was acquired by Dickinson College in January, 2013. Previously, it served as the Allison United Methodist Church. The structure was designed by Hensel Fink, and was completed on April 20, 1958. It was constructed after the Allison...

Allison Memorial Methodist Church, c.1895

The William Clare Allison Memorial Methodist Church was completed in 1892. Construction of the Gothic style building had lasted for two years and the dedication took place on March 6, 1892. A large amount of the construction cost had been donated...

Allison United Methodist Church, c.1960

When the Allison Memorial Methodist Church was destroyed by fire on January 20, 1954, Dickinson College president William W. Edel arranged a trade with the members of the church. In exchange for the site of the destroyed church, adjacent to the...

Merle Frederick Allshouse (1935- )

Merle Allshouse was born on April 26,1935 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from DePauw University of Indiana in 1957. In 1959, Allshouse earned his master's degree in philosophical theology, and seven years later received his doctorate...

College Relationship: Faculty
Alpha Chi Rho House, 1926

The Alpha Chi Rho fraternity purchased a house at 36 North College Street in January of 1919 at a cost of $8,000. The fraternity occupied this house until 1946, during which time the house underwent a series of major renovations, including a...

Alpha Chi Rho House, c.1960

The two-story reinforced concrete house located at 272 W. High Street was built in 1912 by Abram Bosler, a non-graduate of the class of 1905 and member of the Board of Trustees. Bosler did not wish to lose his home to fire, and the building was...

Alpha Delta Epsilon

Alpha Delta Epsilon, a local sorority, was founded at Dickinson College in 1967. Members of the Gamma Chapter of the Phi Mu sorority formed the nucleus of this new group, which remained active until 1980.

Organization Type: Greek Life
Alpha Gamma

Alpha Gamma, a local recognition fraternity, was founded at Dickinson College in 1928. It promoted cooperation among journalistic organizations. In 1948, the national honorary society Pi Delta Epsilon succeeded both Alpha Gamma and the College's...

Organization Type: Greek Life, Honor Societies
Alpha Gamma Psi

Alpha Gamma Psi was a local sorority founded at Dickinson College in 1917. The organization was the forerunner of the Gamma Chapter of the Phi Mu sorority founded in 1919.

Organization Type: Greek Life

The Alpha Gamma Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega international service fraternity was established at Dickinson College in April 1989. The group promotes “leadership, friendship, and service” among its members and within the community.

Organization Type: Community and Public Service, Greek Life
Alpha Psi Omega

A chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, a national honorary society recognizing the talents and abilities of men and women in the field of drama, was established at Dickinson College in 1949. Alpha Psi Omega replaced Tau Delta Pi, a local honorary society...

Organization Type: Honor Societies
Alpha Sigma Gamma

A local honorary society recognizing outstanding work in publications and journalism, Alpha Sigma Gamma was founded at Dickinson College in 1932. In 1948, the national honorary society Pi Delta Epsilon succeeded both Alpha Sigma Gamma and Alpha...

Organization Type: Honor Societies
Alpha Zeta Phi

Alpha Zeta Phi was a local fraternity established at Dickinson College in 1890. The chapter itself dissolved in 1895, though the members of the fraternity provided the nucleus of the revival of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity in that same year.

Organization Type: Greek Life

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