Home --> 1856 - 1906 1856 - 1906 Click the photo to enlarge. 1856 Direct precursor of today's University of Maryland, the Maryland Agricultural College is founded to educate the sons of Maryland’s gentlemen farmers. 1856 - 1864 Charles B. Calvert, founder of the Maryland Agricultural College, was a pro-slave Unionist. The Maryland Agricultural College—as it was first known—opened in the 1850s with slaves constructing the college’s buildings and working on the farms. However, Benjamin Hallowell, the University's first president, was an abolitionist who accepted his appointment on the condition that the school not use slave labor on its farms. During its first decades, the University is largely an agricultural and military school. Students enjoy fraternities, athletics, and social life, and especially popular is Kappa Alpha’s annual "Cotton Picker’s Minstrel Show." Charles B. Calvert, Founder of Maryland Agricultural College (Click to enlarge)
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