Privileged and Confidential

The records document the activities of the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees beginning with their first meeting in October 1770, as well as the activities of standing, ad hoc, and other committees of the Board.

Records consist of documents created by the Board of Trustees or by its committees, as well as documents created or compiled for the Board by faculty, staff, students and committees of the College. Includes the files of the executive or special assistant to the President serving as secretary to the Board. Meeting minutes, agendas, correspondence, memoranda, reports, proposals, position papers, financial documents and research materials document the Board's discussions and actions concerning management of the endowment, expansion and improvement of the physical plant, major curricular changes, academic programs, the structure of student life, and the overall governance of the College. Among the major actions of the Board were the establishment of professional schools in Medicine (1797), Engineering (1867) and Business (1900); resolutions in 1876 and 1891 allowing for alumni nominations of some candidates for Trustee; the November 22, 1971, resolution making the the undergraduate college coeducational; and the November 1989 decision to divest from companies doing business with South Africa.