Archives & Special Collections: Student Protests in the Nineteenth Century

We may think of student protests as a product of the 1960s and 1970s, but Union's history shows that nineteenth-century college students often criticized or tried to change their campus.  Union students used satire to criticize college policies in small student-published magazines, and they even created dramatic political demonstrations.  For example, in 1869, some of the students of Union, upset with the lack of progress on Memorial Hall (now known as the Nott Memorial), held a mock "Burial of the Trustees." Two years after the trustees were "buried," they were "resurrected" by the students because action had been taken to finish Memorial Hall.  Interestingly, the building was still not complete until early the 20th century.  In the 1890s, students led protests against a proposal to move Union College from Schenectady to Albany.  A research paper on student protests could shed light both on campus politics and on the culture of student life at Union during the 19th century.