About This Collection
The Williamsport Dickinson Seminary Collection traces the first eighty years of the school's extensive history. Documented here is the early struggle of the founding of the school, with more prosperous years ensuing as attendance increased and the facilities expanded. The significance of the Methodist Church in the establishment and the continual funding of the school is evidenced. Records exist from six of the eight presidents that helped mold the young school. Events, both social and official, are well represented. Music played a very important role, as is apparent from the many recital playbills in the collection. Also very significant in the life of the students were the many societies and organizations, especially three of the more prominent organizations, the Belles Lettres Union Society, the Gamma Epsilon Society and the Triparite Union Society. Catalogs listing both students and faculty provide further glimpses of life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Items not specifically related to Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, such as a newspaper announcing President Lincoln's assassination and magazines covering the coronation of King George V, were most likely collected by faculty or staff, and are included to enhance the portrayal of the time period.
