Dartmouth College. Department of English
Biography
Instruction in rhetoric and English literature has been a requirement of study at Dartmouth since the early years of the college. The first recorded professor of English was Charles Brickett Haddock (Dartmouth Class of 1816). He was Professor of Rhetorick and Oratory from 1819 to 1838 and Professor of Intellectual Philosophy and English Literature from 1838-1844. The department of English first appeared at the College as the “Rhetorical Department” in 1833. It was renamed the “Department of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres” in 1842. At that time, all students pursued the same course of studies and no individualized concentrations or major subjects were available.
In 1882-1883, students were first given the choice of several elective “Courses of Instruction” in their final two years. “English and Rhetoric” was one of the options in the Modern Languages category. In 1885-1886, the name of the category was changed to “English.” The Department of English was created when the college’s departmental structure was formalized in 1893-1894.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Dartmouth College, Department of English records May Be Restricted
Records of the English Department at Dartmouth College include undergraduate student report cards, subject files, composition center genral files and class surveys and files related to students' majors.