The New Student's Reference Work/Columbia University

Columbia University, located in New York city, was chartered in 1754 as King's College. During the Revolutionary War the work of the college was suspended, and the building was used as a hospital. College work was resumed in 1784, and the name of the institution changed to Columbia College. Under this name the college has had a long and prosperous career. The law department was established in 1858; the medical department in 1860; the school of mines in 1863; the school of political science in 1880; the school of philosophy in 1890; and the school of pure science in 1892. Barnard College for women, founded in 1889, became affiliated in 1890. In 1896 the name of the institution was changed to Columbia University. It is now an amply equipped and richly endowed institution. It has a library of 330,000 volumes, 646 officers of instruction and 5,057 students, exclusive of summer-school and extension students.