The history of St. Stephen's College can be traced to St. Stephen's High School, founded in 1854 by Samuel Scott Allnutt,
chaplain of Delhi, run by the Delhi Mission of the
United Society. With the closure of Government College, Delhi, in 1879 because of financial problems,
Valpy French immediately urged the
Cambridge Mission, an
Anglican mission organised by the alumni of
University of Cambridge, to fill the breach. The other major aim for the foundation of the college was response to
British Indian Government's policy of promoting English education in India. It was Samuel Scott Allnutt of
St. John's College, Cambridge, who was mainly responsible for founding the college. Finally on 1 February 1881, in support of the work of the
United Society Partners in the Gospel, the Cambridge Brotherhood founded the St. Stephen's College. Allnutt served as its first principal. The college's first premises were in
Chandni Chowk,
Delhi, with five boarders and three professors, and was an
affiliate of the
University of Calcutta, but later in 1882, it changed its affiliation to
Punjab University. The Punjab University received its charter more than one year after the founding of St. Stephen's College, which became one of the two institutions first affiliated to it and moved into premises in
Kashmiri Gate,
Old Delhi in 1891. In 1906, principal G. Hibbert Ware abdicated his post in favour of
S. K. Rudra who became the first Indian to head a major educational institution in India. The decision was frowned upon at the time, but Rudra proved to have a tenure of extraordinary importance for the college.
Charles Freer Andrews, a prominent lecturer at the college and member of the
Cambridge Brotherhood, was active in the
Indian independence movement, and was named
deenbandhu (friend of the poor) by
Mahatma Gandhi on account of his work with the needy and the trade union movement. Currently, a portrait of Andrews is hung beside the portrait of his good friend
Rabindranath Tagore in the principal's office. It is also believed that Rabindranath Tagore completed the English translation of
Gitanjali, for which he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature, while a guest at the college. Women were first admitted in 1928, as there were no women's colleges in Delhi affiliated with the
Anglican Church at the time; after the founding of
Miranda House in 1949, women were not accepted as students until 1975. St. Stephen's College shifted to its current location in the Delhi University Enclave in 1941. Prior to this, the college had been housed in the Kashmere Gate area.
Etymology The college was named after
Saint Stephen, who was adopted by the Anglican Church as the
patron saint of Delhi after Christians were reportedly stoned to death during the
1857 uprising, as they were the first Christian martyrs in
North India and were stoned, parallels to Saint Stephen were obvious.The red colour in the logo of the College represents the spirit of sacrifice as seen in the life of the Saint. == Present form ==