Editing Curry College (section)

==History==
Curry College was founded in 1879 on Boston's [[Beacon Street]] near the State House by [[Anna Baright Curry|Anna Baright]] as the '''School of Elocution and Expression'''. Baright graduated from the [[Boston University School of Oratory]] in 1877 and was described by one of her professors as "the greatest woman reader in the country." This was a significant compliment in an era of oratory when speakers like Charles Dickens and Mark Twain were paid thousands to read lengthy pieces of their work.<ref>{{cite web|title=Curry College History|url=http://www.curry.edu/about-curry/our-legacy/history.html|publisher=Curry College|access-date=2012-07-24}}</ref> In 1882, Baright married Boston minister and fellow [[Boston University]] alumnus and professor [[Samuel Silas Curry]].

The School of Elocution and Expression had many prominent Bostonians on its Board including Alexander Graham Bell, Alexander Melville Bell, the father of Alexander Graham Bell, legendary Harvard President [[Charles W. Eliot]] and author [[William Dean Howells]], who wrote ''The Rise of Silas Lapham'' and was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Among the students in attendance were Smiley Blanton and Sara Stinchfield Hawk, who became pioneers in the field of speech language pathology.

In 1885, the school became the '''School of Expression''' and, in 1888, the school was chartered by the state. Silas Curry became the head of the school, and Anna Baright Curry became a professor. Former Boston University School of Oratory professor and telephone inventor [[Alexander Graham Bell]] became the school's first chancellor from 1907 to 1922 when Mr. Bell died. Bell, as a professor at Boston University, taught Samuel Silas Curry and, according to the recollections of Curry's daughter, Silas Curry was present when Bell made the first telephone call in 1876. After Mr. Bell's death, Samuel Silas Curry and Anna Baright ran the school until their respective deaths in 1921 and Avenue. In 1932, Curry College relocated to the Bigelow Mansion at 251 Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay.<ref>[https://backbayhouses.org/251-commonwealth/ Back Bay Houses:251 Commonwealth Avenue]</ref> In 1932, Curry began a radio broadcasting major, still considered the oldest of its kind in the country. In 1938, the Massachusetts Legislature gave the institution the power to confer the degrees of Bachelor of Science of Oratory and Master of Science of Oratory. In 1943, the School of Expression became '''Curry College''' to reflect its founders.

Curry College moved from Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to its current suburban location in Milton, Massachusetts in 1952. Curry continued to place strong emphasis on communication and self-development but it now became more diversified in its curriculum. In 1953, the college was authorized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to confer the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees. The first of these degrees was awarded in 1955.

Despite the dramatic change in the school's mission after the 1952 move to Milton, Massachusetts, Curry College maintained its debt to its founders and their scholarship focus that centered on the delivery of words. Curry College sponsors an award-winning, [[Non-commercial educational station|non-commercial]] radio station [[WMLN-FM]] 91.5 operated by Curry students.

During the 1960s, the growth of Curry was led by President John Hafer, a former Academic Dean at [[Coe College]] in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Dean of Admissions at [[Syracuse University]].