Williams College


Williams College,

at Williamstown, Mass.; coeducational; chartered 1785, opened as a free school 1791, became a college 1793, named for Ephraim WilliamsWilliams, Ephraim,
1715–55, American soldier, founder of Williams College, b. Newton, Mass. After several years as a sailor, he lived in Massachusetts and took part in defending the frontier against Native Americans. He was a captain in King George's War.
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. The Williams campus, noted for its fine old buildings, includes West College (1790), the Van Rensselaer Manor House (moved from Albany, N.Y.), and the oldest U.S. observatory (Hopkins; 1838). Williams College, the first to establish an institute of politics (maintained until 1934), now has several research institutes. The Chapin Library of Rare Books houses important books, manuscripts, and prints relating to Americana, English literature, and early painting. There is a fine art museum.