Building an Education in the Humanities in Southeast Ohio
Planning for Ohio University
Ohio University first imagined
In 1786, the Ohio Company of Associates was established in a tavern in Boston to propose the foundation of an institution of higher education in the United States’ Northwest Territory. When the U.S. Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, Manasseh Cutler — one of the future founders of Ohio University — composed one of its clauses that read: “Religion morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” He and the other founders intended to name the new university the American Western University, although it eventually took the name Ohio University.
Choosing the place for the future university
Planning for the new university began in 1799, when a team of surveyors under General Rufus Putnam began laying out plans for the university and the town of Athens. Originally the town was to be named Middletown, but by 1800 the name Athens had been selected to highlight the importance of learning and education, especially the humanistic education that had made the ancient city of Athens in Greece famous as a wellspring of knowledge and wisdom.
First university in the Northwest Territory
Ohio became the 17th state in the United States in 1803, and on Feb. 18th, 1804, the Ohio General Assembly passed an act establishing Ohio University. This made it the first university in the Northwest Territory and because it was founded as a consequence of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, it became the country’s first land-grant university. Construction began in 1806, and in 1808 Ohio University opened and welcomed its first students.