Academic Costume was first worn at Commencement in 1786, after the Corporation voted on March 13 that "in future, the Candidates for Bachelors degrees, being Alumni of the College should be clad at Commencement in black flowing robes & caps similar to those used at other Universities.Academic costume
The Annmary Brown Memorial at 21 Brown Street was built in 1907 by Rush Christopher Hawkins as a memorial to his wife, who was the daughter of Nicholas Brown 1811 and the granddaughter of Nicholas Brown 1786, whose name the University adopted in 1804, and sister of Carrie Brown Bajnotti, whose memorial is Carrie Tower.Annmary Brown Memorial
Benjamin West was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy in 1786, but did not begin to teach until 1788.Astronomy
In 1786, John commenced building his ‘Red-Brick-Mansion-on-the-Hill.’ In 1787 he sent the first ship from Narragansett Bay to China, his General Washington.Brown family
A number of the Brown family attended the University, among them Nicholas Brown 1786, for whom the college was named in 1804, and his brother, Moses Brown 1790, who died in 1791.Brown family
Two sons of Nicholas Brown 1786 attended, Nicholas Brown 1811, United States Consul in Italy from 1845 to 1853, and John Carter Brown 1816, donor of the funds for the library building which is now Robinson Hall, and founder of the collection of Americana which constitutes the John Carter Brown Library.Brown family
The campus buildings which are associated with the Brown family are University Hall, which was built by Nicholas Brown and Company, Hope College and Manning Hall, which were given by Nicholas Brown 1786, Rhode Island Hall, to which Nicholas Brown 1786 made a generous donation, Robinson Hall, which was built as a library with a bequest from John Carter Brown 1816, the John Carter Brown Library, built with a bequest from John Nicholas Brown 1885 to house the collection begun by John Carter Brown 1816, Carrie Tower, erected by Paul Bajnotti as a memorial to his wife, Carrie Mathilde Brown, daughter of Nicholas Brown 1811, and the Annmary Brown Memorial erected by Rush C. Hawkins as a memorial to his wife, Annmary Brown Hawkins, also the daughter of Nicholas Brown 1811.Brown family
Carrie Tower was erected in 1904, a gift of Paul Bajnotti of Turin, Italy, and a memorial to his wife, born Caroline Mathilde Brown, granddaughter of Nicholas Brown 1786, for whom the University is named, and daughter of Nicholas Brown 1811.Carrie Tower
The College was closed during the Revolutionary War, so there was no catalogue until 1786, after which a new edition was published every three years.Catalogues
Annual Commencements began again in the Baptist Church in 1786, and their traditional conviviality returned to the point that in 1790 the College asked the General Assembly to have the Sheriff of the County of Providence attend future Commencements "to preserve the peace, good order, and decorum," which he still does.Commencement
The earliest known reference to a play performed by students is in the 1757 edition of Thomas Otway’s works in the College Library where a note in the hand of Nicholas Brown 1786 at the beginning of "The Cheats of Scapin," reads, "Acted in the Hall in Providencè as a Farce to the ‘Revengè’ April: 1785 With Great Applause."Dramatics
The volume also contains the names of the actors, all members of the classes of 1786 through 1788, in what seems to have been an afterpiece to the performance of Edward Young’s play, "The Revenge."Dramatics
In 1815, Tristam Burges was appointed to fill the first endowed professorship, that of Oratory and Belles Lettres, established by Nicholas Brown 1786 in 1804.Faculty
The 1786 section was not a gift of the long-departed class, but was given in honor of the class of Nicholas Brown.Fence
The will of Nicholas Brown 1786, who died in 1841, had instructed that half of the net income from certain properties should be made available to the University and that these funds be used, with the advice of the Warren Education Society, to aid "deserving young men in obtaining their education while members of said University."Financial aid
Perez Fobes (1742-1812), professor of natural philosophy and vice-president of the College in 1786, was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, on September 21, 1742, one of twelve children.Fobes, Perez
When President Manning was elected representative to Congress, Fobes was appointed to oversee the College from June 1 to September 1, 1786.Fobes, Perez
In March 1839 Nicholas Brown 1786 announced that he would subscribe $10,000 for the science building and a new president’s house, provided the same amount should be subscribed before May 1.Fund-raising
In 1976 Brown Giving Clubs were established to encourage annual donations of certain amounts, the Century Club ($100-$499), the 1764 Associates ($500-$999), the Manning Fellows ($1,000-$4,999), and the Nicholas Brown Society for donors of an annual gift of $5,000, commemorating the gift of $5,000 given by Nicholas Brown 1786, which changed the name of Rhode Island College to Brown University.Fund-raising
David Howell was a member of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1785, associate justice of the supreme court of Rhode Island from 1786 to 1787, attorney general in 1789, and judge of the Rhode Island district court from 1812 until his death on July 30, 1824.Howell, David
A Commencement was held in 1783 for six graduates, who had been students before the war or had studied privately with Manning, but it was not until 1786 that more students were ready for graduation.Manning, James
The number of students increased steadily from twenty in 1784 to fifty in 1786.Manning, James
In 1786 Manning was appointed by a unanimous resolution of the General Assembly to represent Rhode Island in the Congress of the Confederation.Manning, James
James Manning explained his reasons for accepting the appointment in a letter to Reverend John Rippon in England on April 7, 1786, "Pray, don’t be alarmed should you hear that I am in Congress.Manning, James
On November 12, 1785 he wrote to Reverend Samuel Jones, who was establishing a school in Kentucky: He also at times took boarders, among them two sons of Robert Carter of Nomony Hall in Virginia, who wrote to Manning in February 1786 of George and John Tasker Carter, "they to be Sent from Boston immediately upon their Arrival there to your College in Providence.Manning, James
William Learned Marcy (1786-1857), Secretary of State of the United States, was born in Sturbridge (the part which is now Southbridge), Massachusetts on December 12, 1786.Marcy, William L.
On September 6, 1804, Nicholas Brown 1786 donated $5,000 for the establishment of a "Professorship of Oratory & Belles Letters (sic)," and the Corporation voted, "That this College be called and known in all future time by the Name of Brown University in Providence in the State of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations."Name
John Brown was succeeded by his nephew, Nicholas Brown 1786, who held the office for 29 years, from 1796 to 1825.Treasurer
From 1783 to 1792 the Grammar School was conducted by William Wilkinson, first in the College Edifice until 1786, and thereafter again in the Brick School House.University Grammar School
The only "vice president" recorded before that time was Perez Fobes, who actually served in the capacity of acting president while James Manning was in Congress in 1786.Vice Presidents
In 1786 Benjamin West was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy at Rhode Island College, an appointment which was in fact a lectureship and which he did not take up until 1788, after he returned from a year of teaching mathematics at the Protestant Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia.West, Benjamin