A Celebration 150 Years In The Making

Happy Birthday, Maryland! For the next year, the University of Maryland is taking stock of its 150 year history, while keeping a firm eye on the future. "Our 150-year history projects a dramatic transformation of the University's mission and contributions. It's quite a story," says University President C. D. (Dan) Mote Jr. "It's time to celebrate this history, and especially the University's contributions to the people and State of Maryland. Our future portends even greater service to the State as we become a model research university for the 21st century." A year-long series of events will be held to celebrate the anniversary throughout the College Park campus. A full list of those events can be found on Maryland's 150th Anniversary Web Site. The news media are invited to check out a special section of that website for event updates, news, public service announcements, and more. A full press release is available that highlights many upcoming events. The site also includes a section devoted to the history of the institution over its 150 years. New articles and other material will be added throughout the year, and the history section will become a permanent part of the University of Maryland website. New! Got a Mac? Get the Countdown Widget! See what Maryland looked like in 1952. iPod Video version now available.

Dean James Harris, College of Arts and Humanities, is chairing the campus-wide committee planning the year-long anniversary. He points to the incredible advances in excellence that have been made in the past few decades, "The University of Maryland is now competitive nationally with the very best universities -- that was not the case except in isolated cases in the mid 1980s." Read "A Conversation With... Dean James Harris." University Archivist Anne Turkos has been at the center of virtually every 150th Anniversary project on campus, including the publication of a new history book that will be available next March 6 on Charter Day. Her office is in Maryland's Hornbake Library, which houses hundreds of thousands of pictures, documents, books and other historical materials related to Maryland's history. "When you examine the hopes and dreams of the founders of the Maryland Agricultural College, and see how far the institution has come in the last 150 years," she says, "you cannot help but be excited about the next 150!" Read "A Conversation With... University Archivist Anne Turkos"

Researching Maryland's History There are a number of resources for researching history at Maryland. A great place to start is with our 150th Anniversary website, which will, over time, include a number of historical articles and links. The best single place for information, however, is the Maryland Room in the Hornbake Library. This is the starting point for accessing all the archived materials pertaining to University of Maryland history that includes everything from back issues of the Diamondback student newspaper (on microfilm) and yearbooks, to Board of Regents' minutes, presidental papers and much, much more. Other sources of information include the Maryland State Archives, and the The National Archives (Archives II) in College Park, which includes some materials. The National Capital Park and Planning Commission offers a number of links to historic sites around what has become the University of Maryland, including the College Park Airport. There are also a number of books about Maryland - including athletic histories (check any of the online book sellers, the University Book Center or Maryland Book Exchange). A new pictoral history of the University is planned for release on March 6, 2006 - Charter Day.

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