B R YA N T C E LE B R ATE S 150 YE A R S
AUGU ST 1 , 19 3 5 Bryant moves to
Providence’s East Side. A new name is chosen for the school, Bryant College of Business Administration.
1860
1910
JA N UA RY 14 , 18 6 3 Originally called
19 16 Henry “Harry” Jacobs acquires
Bryant and Stratton National Business College, Bryant is founded as part of a national chain of private co-educational commercial colleges.
Bryant and begins his 45 -year tenure as president. He merges it with the Rhode Island Commercial School, a two-year degree-granting institution.
18 6 5 Bryant actively recruits and attracts
Jacobs persuades the state legislature to empower his college to grant two degrees: a Bachelor of Commercial Science and a Bachelor of Accounts.
female students. 18 67 New owner William W. Warner diversifies the curriculum to include philosophy, language studies, photography, and mechanics.
1870
19 18 – 19 19 The post WWI era brings a
flood of veterans to the school; 1,965 students register at the Providence Bryant and Stratton Commercial School.
1920 19 2 0 Enrollment levels off in the 1920 s to about 1,200 ; graduating class size is about 250 .
The Booster is the campus newspaper. 19 2 5 Bryant moves to the new, eight-
story, fireproof Gardner Building at 40 Fountain St. J U LY 19 2 9 Bryant and Stratton’s
Monthly Letter on Current Business Conditions predicts the country is headed for a recession. By marshaling resources, Jacobs keeps the school afloat, despite a severe enrollment drop.
J U LY 1 , 18 78 Theodore Barrows Stowell
buys Bryant and serves as principal until 1916. Stowell operates Bryant from the 4th floor of the Hoppin Homestead Building, 283 Westminster St.
1930 19 3 0 S A student newspaper, the BryantStratton News, begins and costs five cents per issue. Sororities and fraternities spring up during the early part of the decade. 19 3 1 Henry Ford, founder of the Ford
Motor Company, accepts an honorary master’s degree. 19 3 5 Enrollment rebounds; today students
hail from 36 states and several countries.
18
BRYANT SPRING
2013
1940 M A RC H 19 4 2 The Bryant College
Service Club is formed to send care packages to the more than 500 Bryant alumni serving in the U.S. military. The club receives nearly 1,400 thank-you letters in a three-year period. 19 4 2 Madame Chiang Kai-shek of China
receives an honorary degree. 19 4 4 WWII creates a near-disaster point
for enrollment: only 10 men and 143 women graduate this year. 19 4 5 Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM ,
receives an honorary degree. 19 4 5 Soldiers returning from WWII take
18 7 1 – 18 76 Bryant is located at the
Burgess Building, 164 Westminster St., Providence. The building is still in existence today, now 232 Westminster St.
19 3 8 Vice President Gardner Jacobs, son of Harry Jacobs, buys and remodels two houses for use as dormitories as the college begins attracting more out-of-state students who need housing.
advantage of the G.I. Bill and create an enrollment boom all over the country. Bryant’s two-year program is especially appealing to veterans. 19 4 6 Twelve Bryant alumni are reported
to have been killed during WWII . The Archway, Bryant’s current campus newspaper, is founded. Gertrude Meth Hochberg is hired as the director of public relations; few colleges had such positions since advertising was frowned upon as a way of making educational institutions known.