WILLIAMS COLLEGE, located at Wil liamstown. Mass. It owes its origin to the be quest of Col. Ephraim Williams, for establishing a "Free School" in Williamstown. The be quest was made in 1755; the property was sold, and the funds were allowed to accumulate until 1785. when a free school was incorporated by the legislature, and a lottery granted for rais ing funds to erect a building; in 1790 the build ing (now West College) was completed, and the school was opened 20 Oct. 1791. In 1793 the institution was incorporated as a college under its present name, the property vested in the free school was transferred to the college, and a grant of $4,000 was made by the State to purchase a library and apparatus. The col lege subsequently received other appropriations from the State; in 17% the legislature granted two townships of land; in 1809 an additional township; and in 1814 appropriated the taxes from the Massachusetts bank for 10 years to Harvard, Williams and Bowdoin, Williams' share in which amounted to $30,000; in 1859 the legislature appropriated $25.000, and in 1868, $75,000. In 1806 the first foreign' missionary society in the United States was formed at Williams. In 1836-72 Mark Hopkins (q.v.) was president of the college, and during his ad ministration it attained a high degree of pros perity The curriculum prescribes the work of the f reshman year, and organizes the courses of the 1.01 three years in 11 major groups arranged in
three divisions. The aim is to secure the con centration of part of the student's work in one c1-detincd field and the distribution of another p.irt among different subjects. The degree of A B. is conferred. and A.M. for graduate work and thesis. There are 76 general scholarships and one special prize scholarship. The principal college buildin.:, arc West College, the oldest, erected 1790: Fast Collect., erected in 1798, buirtied it) 1g41. and rrionit; Snub Griffin VIA; H t kin (P..a.r\art,r•, built in KU, unit( r the Pr,,f Albert Hop Inns, the first citl,gt. in the United States; Lawrence HaU Library; Jackson Hall; Alumni Hall Chapel; College Hall; Clark Hall; Field Memorial Observatory, erected 1882, con taining a fine meridian circle by A Repsold and Sons, Hamburg; Morgan Hall • Lase!! Gymna sium; Hopkins Memorial Fail; Thompson Chemical Laboratory; Thompson Biological Laboratory; Thom son Physical Laboratory; ry College Infirmary; ,Jesup Hall; Williams Hall; Grace Hall. The library contains about 89,000 volumes. The productive fund amounts to $2,900,883.58; the student attendance is 552 and the faculty 61; the total number of graduates nearly 6,000.