Milestones: A Timeline of Wheelock College

Lucy Wheelock, 1890

The School becomes an independent school and moves to 284 Dartmouth Street; a dormitory system begins with three students.

Miss Wheelock with students at 284 Dartmouth St., Fall 1896

Marenholz House, 1905

Marenholz residents, 1904

100 The Riverway

The School celebrates its 25th Anniversary by finding a permanent home at 100 The Riverway. The new building houses classrooms, an office, library, dormitory, and dining hall. Lucy Wheelock's own apartment is located in the right end of the building.

Name changes from Miss Wheelock's Kindergarten Training School to The Wheelock School: A Training School for Teachers of Nursery School, Kindergarten and the Primary Grades.

Over 300 students are enrolled.

Wheelock's 50th Anniversary Dinner at the Hotel Somerset, January 28th, 1939

The 50th Anniversary of the School is celebrated. The school is incorporated on a non-profit basis and a Board of Trustees is appointed, undertaking the management of the school. Miss Wheelock sells her property to the Corporation and retires as Principal, becoming Chairman of the Board. Laura Holmes Reed, Miss Wheelock's niece, becomes Acting Principal.

Oscar Haussermann, Mary Miller '10, Lucy Wheelock, and Rollo G. Reynolds at Wheelock's 50th Anniversary Dinner

Dr. Winifred E. Bain is appointed the Principal of Wheelock College by the Board of Trustees.

Faculty consists of 7 full-time teachers and 19 part-time lecturers.

Tuition is $315 a year.

The curriculum changes from three to four years, and authorization is given to award the degree Bachelor of Science of Education by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

On November 21, the name officially changes from Wheelock School to Wheelock College.

The title of Principal changes to President, thus making Dr. Bain the first President of Wheelock College.

The classroom building on Pilgrim Road begins construction, and 100 The Riverway becomes a dormitory and infirmary.

Degrees of Bachelor of Science in Education are awarded to the first class completing a four year course.

Enrollment is at a war-time low of 254 students.

Wheelock College is accredited by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

The apartment houses at 39-41 Pilgrim Road are purchased for use as dormitories.

The Lucy Wheelock Kindergarten Alumnae Association changes its name to Wheelock College Alumnae Association, in order to unify earlier graduates from the Wheelock School and the more recent graduates of Wheelock College.

100 The Riverway is sold and residents are moved to 162-164 The Riverway, taking the name Riverway House to their new quarters.

A new dining hall is built to connect Pilgrim House East and West, Riverway House, and Longwood House into one residence unit.

Monmouth House and Carleton House close.

The first Summer Session is held.

Registration for Wheelock's
first Summer Session

Wheelock's first recipients of the master's degree in education

Dr. Winifred Bain retires and is succeeded by Dr. Frances McClellan Mayfarth. The first graduate degrees are awarded, to three individuals.

The College now includes ten buildings.

The Lucy Wheelock Child Centre in Roxbury is sold.

House at 197-199 Longwood Ave is purchased for use as a dormitory.

Honor System established.

Undergraduate enrollment reaches 445, taught by 27 full-time faculty.

Elizabeth Peabody Hall, at 210-214 The Riverway opens as a dormitory.

The library is renovated to include space on the fourth floor.

President Mayfarth retires, and Dr. James E. Conner is appointed as President of Wheelock College.

Wheelock becomes a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

Property at 295 Kent Street is purchased as a President's House.

75th anniversary of the founding of Wheelock College.

Wheelock is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Wheelock begins to train teachers for Head Start, under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Ann Liddle, '47, Director of Graduate Programs.

Activities Building opens, housing the Lucy Wheelock Auditorium.

Dr. Henry Callard becomes Acting President.

Dr. Margaret H. Merry is appointed President of the College.

New curriculum designed, including a switch to a trimester academic year, and the admittance of undergraduate men.

Resource Center established in the Classroom Building to support curriculum development.

Undergraduate tuition is $1,700 a year; room and board is $1,000.

Honorary Degrees awarded at Commencement for the first time. The honors go to Dr. Fritz Redl and Dr. Alice Kelliher.

Dr. Fritz Redl giving his
Commencement address, 1969

Dr. Merry resigns and Dr. Donald R. Cruikshank becomes President.
Wheelock purchases apartment buildings at 114-122 The Riverway.

Optional Grading Plan is attempted, wherein students may choose to either be graded credit/no credit, or to work within the standard grading system.

Martha's Vineyard Program created, for the purposes of student teaching placements in a rural environment.

Dr. William L. Irvine is named Acting President.

Dr. Gordon L. Marshall is appointed President.

Faculty votes to award an Associate of Science degree.

"The Snack," a student center, opens.

Division of Continuing Education is created with Dr. Edgar Klugman as Director. Fenway Library Consortium organized, including Wheelock and eleven other libraries.

Ad hoc Committee on Interethnic Relations is established to investigate interracial and interethnic relations on campus.
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Three majors exist: Teaching, Special Education, and Children in Hospitals.

Wheelock "Children in Hospitals"
major with patient

Center for Parenting Studies is organized.

The Graduate School celebrates its 25th anniversary with a lecture by Dr. Fritz Redl. Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) program offered.

The College returns to a two semester structure. Discipline areas are consolidated into departments: Liberal Arts, and Professional Studies.

A renovation project consolidates the Riverway and Pilgrim dining halls and moves the Resource Center, the AV Department, and the day student lounge to the Classroom Building.

Students protest the Massachusetts law raising legal drinking age from 18 to 20 years old.

Sally Reeves Edmonds, '55, is the first woman Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Full-time faculty now number 51. There are 576 full-time undergraduate students and 145 graduate students.

Wheelock Family Theatre's first production,
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," 1982.

Wheelock College Library after renovations, 1982

The renovated library officially opens, incorporating above the main entrance the Frobel frieze which had been made in 1914 by William Closson for the original Wheelock building at 100 The Riverway.

Dr. Marjorie Bakken is appointed as the first Undergraduate Dean.

Gordon Marshall retires and, Dr. Daniel S. Cheever, Jr. becomes the President of the College.

Capital campaign, "Celebrate Wheelock," intended to raise $4.3 million dollars, begins.

First Bachelor of Social Work degree awarded.

Bachelor of Social Work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

Two year program to prepare professionals for Day Care Administration is initiated.

The new College Center opens, renovated to include lounge, snack bar, and central mailboxes.

The administration building at 200 The Riverway is gutted and rebuilt.

Human Development, the first Liberal Arts major, is approved by the faculty. Wheelock now offers a Liberal Arts major, a Professional Studies major in Social Work, and professional preparation in the fields of Teaching and Child Life.

Wheelock celebrates its 100th Anniversary. A special gala celebration is held at the Children's Museum as part of Alumni Weekend in 1989 and 65 alumni are presented with the newly established Lucy Wheelock Award for alumni service. "Families First," a collaboration with the Children's Museum begins.

Daniel Cheever leaves, and Gerald N. Tirozzi becomes President of Wheelock College.

Wheelock Family Theatre becomes the first theatre in New England to provide audio-description for blind or visually impaired people.

Wheelock College's Center for International Education, Leadership and Innovation is established, graduating students with Master's degrees in Education in Singapore.

"Teach U.S." program is introduced. The program allows students from all over the country to spend their junior year in Boston preparing to teach in urban, multicultural settings.

Gerald Tirozzi leaves Wheelock and Marjorie Bakken, the Vice President for Academic Affairs is named Interim/Acting President.

Wheelock joins with Bank Street College in New York City, Erikson Institute in Chicago, Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena and Seattle to create the Early Childhood Four-College Consortium.

Whalenet, a award-winning website project designed by Professor J. Michael Williamson to enhance science education and environmental awareness, is launched with Wheelock's sponsorship.

Dr. Marjorie Bakken is inaugurated as President.

The Library undergoes a renovation of the Computer Classroom and Laboratory.

Wheelock Family Theatre begins a Deaf Youth Theatre after-school program.

The A.S. Degree Program is phased out, its final students graduate in May with an Associate in Science degree.

The Center for International Education, Leadership and Innovation expands to include a Master's Program in Education in Bermuda.

Wheelock College joins the Colleges of the Fenway consortium, sharing courses, students services, buildings, and social activities with Emmanuel College, Simmons College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.

Bermuda Master's Program evaluated and approved for accreditation by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Parents magazine honors Wheelock with its first Education Award at the National Child Care Awards presentation.

Purchase of buildings owned by Hebrew College, to create the Hawes Street Campus in Brookline.

Wheelock establishes a Master's in Education program in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Resource Center is completely renovated.
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First Master's of Social Work degrees awarded.

Brookline Campus opens on Hawes Street.

Master's of Social Work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

Marjorie Bakken steps down, and Jackie Jenkins-Scott is appointed President of Wheelock College.