Founding Hunter College originates from the 19th-century movement for
normal school training for teachers which swept across the United States. Hunter descends from the
Female Normal and High School, a
women's college established in New York City in 1870. It was founded by Thomas Hunter from
Ardglass in
County Down, Ireland, who was an
exile over his
nationalist beliefs. The Normal School was one of several institutions occupying a site that the New York City government had reserved for "institutions serving a public purpose". The college's student population quickly expanded, and the college subsequently moved uptown, in 1873, into a new red brick
Gothic structure facing Park Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets. It was one of several public institutions built at the time on a
Lenox Hill lot that had been set aside by the city for a park, before the creation of
Central Park. After the park in Lenox Hill was canceled, the plots were leased to institutions like Hunter College. In 1888, the school was incorporated as a college under the statutes of New York State, taking on the name
Normal College of the City of New York, with the power to confer
Bachelor of Arts degrees. This led to the separation of the school into two "camps": the "Normals", who pursued a four-year course of study to become licensed teachers, and the "Academics", who sought non-teaching professions and the Bachelor of Arts degree. After 1902 when the "Normal" course of study was abolished, the "Academic" course became standard across the student body.
Expansion In 1913, the east end of the building, housing the elementary school, was replaced by Thomas Hunter Hall, a new limestone
Tudor building facing
Lexington Avenue and designed by
C. B. J. Snyder. The following year the Normal College became Hunter College in honor of its first president. At the same time, the college was experiencing a period of great expansion as increasing student enrollments necessitated more space. The college reacted by establishing branches in the boroughs of
Brooklyn,
Queens, and
Staten Island. By 1920, Hunter College had the largest enrollment of women of any municipally financed college in the United States. In 1930, Hunter's Brooklyn campus merged with
City College's Brooklyn campus, and the two were spun off to form
Brooklyn College. recruit camp for
WAVES at Bronx Campus, February 8, 1943 In February 1936, a fire destroyed the 1873 Gothic building facing Park Avenue. Plans for a new building were announced in 1937, and by 1940 the
Public Works Administration replaced it with the
Modernist north building, designed by
Shreve, Lamb & Harmon along with
Harrison & Fouilhoux. The late 1930s saw the construction of Hunter College in the Bronx (later known as the Bronx Campus). During the
Second World War, Hunter leased the Bronx Campus buildings to the
United States Navy who used the facilities to train 95,000 women volunteers for military service as
WAVES and
SPARS. When the Navy vacated the campus, the site was briefly occupied by the nascent United Nations, which held its first Security Council sessions at the Bronx Campus in 1946, giving the school an international profile. In 1943,
Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated a town house at
47–49 East 65th Street in Manhattan to the college. The house had been a home for Eleanor and
Franklin D. Roosevelt prior to the latter's presidency. The
Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College opened at that location in fall 2010 as an academic center hosting prominent speakers.
CUNY era – and were designed in the
Modernist style by
Ulrich Franzen & Associates. Skyways connect all the buildings. Hunter became the
women's college of the municipal system, and in the 1950s, when
City College became coeducational, Hunter started admitting men to its
Bronx campus. In 1964, the
Manhattan campus began admitting men also. The Bronx campus subsequently became
Lehman College in 1968. In 1968–1969, Black and Puerto Rican students struggled to get a department that would teach about their history and experience. These and supportive students and faculty expressed this demand through building take-overs, rallies, etc. In Spring 1969, Hunter College established Black and Puerto Rican Studies (now called Africana/Puerto Rican and Latino Studies). An "
open admissions" policy initiated in 1970 by the City University of New York opened the school's doors to historically underrepresented groups by guaranteeing a college education to any and all who graduated from NYC high schools. Many African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Puerto Ricans, and students from the developing world made their presence felt at Hunter, and even after the end of "open admissions" still comprise a large part of the school's student body. As a result of this increase in enrollment, Hunter opened new buildings on Lexington Avenue during the early 1980s. In further advancing Puerto Rican studies, Hunter became home to the
Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños ("Center for Puerto Rican Studies" or simply "Centro") in 1982. In 2006, Hunter became home to the
Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, which has training programs for young women to build their leadership, public speaking, business and advocacy skills. ==Campuses==