Mark Hopkins

Mark Hopkins (1802-1887) was a graduate of Williams in the Class of 1824, which he entered from secondary school as a junior in 1822. Professor of moral and intellectual philosophy from 1830 to 1887 and president of the College from 1836 to 1872, he symbolizes in the history of American education the era of small country colleges, where poor boys, simple surroundings, and dedicated teachers created an environment friendly to liberal learning. A skilled teacher in the Socratic tradition, he has been immortalized by the aphorism attributed to one of his former students, James A. Garfield: "The ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other." A popular lecturer on moral and religious questions, for many years president of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, he earned the love and respect of generations of Williams men by his qualities as a teacher and friend.

Mark Hopkins House is named after him.

Chronology

1802	born February 4 in Stockbridge, MA the son of Archibald and Mary (Curtis) Hopkins.
1815	moves to Clinton, NY to live with Uncle Sewall Hopkins
1816	returns to Stockbridge
1820	moves to Mecklenburg, VA to teach
1822	enters Williams College as a Sophomore
1824	graduates from Williams College; gives valedictory oration; begins study of medicine in Pittsfield
1825	appointed tutor to the Junior Class at Williams College
1827	leaves Williams; moves to Pittsfield to continue medical studies; teaches at Berkshire gymnasium, Pittsfield
1828	teaches briefly at Mrs. Smith's School for Girls, NYC (?)
1829	receives M.D.
1830	moves to New York City with bother Harry; briefly practices medicine with Silas West; appointed professor of rhetoric and moral philosophy at Williams
1832	marries Mary Hubbell
1833	receives license to preach
1836	appointed president of Williams, the youngest man ever to hold office as college president in the United States; made professor of moral and intellectual philosophy; ordained as a Congregational minister
1837	receives doctor of Divinity from Dartmouth
1847	publishes Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses
1841	receives doctor of Divinity from Harvard College
1843	elected fellow of the University of the State of New York College of Physicians and Surgeons
1846	publishes Evidences of Christianity, Lectures before the Lowell Institute
1848	voted member of the board of Andover Theological Society
1853	elected Vice President of American Congregational Union
1857	elected President of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; elected Vice President of National Compen sated Emancipation Society; receives doctor of Laws from Regents of the State of New York
1858	gives welcoming address in Stockbridge to Cyrus W. Field, who had just laid the first Atlantic cable
1861	takes trip to Europe with wife
1864	elected resident member of MA Historical Society
1868	elected president of Academy of Metaphysical and Ethical Sciences
1869	publishes The Law of Love and Love as a Law
1872	resigns presidency of Williams, retains chair of philosophy
1873	publishes An Outline Study of Man
1874	publishes Of Strength and Beauty, Discussion for Young Men
1882	eldest daughter, Mary Louisa, dies
1883	declines presidency of National Temperance Society
1886	elected honorary member of American Institute of Civics; receives doctor of Laws from Harvard
1887	dies June 17 in Williamstown

This page was derived from an article written for the Williams College Archives.