Editing Rutgers University (section)

===18th century===
Two decades after the College of New Jersey, which is now [[Princeton University]], was established in 1746 by the New Light Presbyterians, [[minister (Christianity)|ministers]] of the [[Reformed Church in America|Dutch Reformed Church]], seeking autonomy in ecclesiastical affairs in the [[Thirteen Colonies]], sought to establish a college to train those who wanted to become [[Clergy|ministers]] within the church.<ref name="andthen">[http://www.dailytargum.com/2.8607/and-then-there-was-rutgers-1.1519756 And then there was Rutgers...] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807071332/http://www.dailytargum.com/2.8607/and-then-there-was-rutgers-1.1519756 |date=August 7, 2011 }} in ''The Daily Targum'' November 8, 2002. Retrieved August 12, 2006.</ref><ref name="sketch">[http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/university_archives/ru_historical_sketch.shtml A Historical Sketch of Rutgers University] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822014043/http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/university_archives/ru_historical_sketch.shtml |date=August 22, 2006 }} by Thomas J. Frusciano, University Archivist. Retrieved August 12, 2006.</ref> 
[[File:Rutgers University Crest.svg|thumb|left|The university's [[coat of arms]], featuring four [[quarter (heraldry)|quarters]], a reference to the shields of the [[House of Nassau]], [[Coat of arms of New Jersey|New Jersey]], Queen [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], and [[Henry Rutgers]]<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://queensguard-rutgers.org/our-university/our-coat-of-arms/
 |title=Our Coat of Arms, Queens Guard Rutgers
 |website=queensguard-rutgers.org 
 |access-date=2023-04-10}}</ref>|174x174px]] 
Through several years of effort by [[Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen]] (1691–1747) and [[Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh]] (1736–1790), later the college's first president, Queen's College received its charter on November 10, 1766, from New Jersey's last royal governor, [[William Franklin]] (1730–1813), the son of [[Benjamin Franklin]].<ref name="andthen" /> The original charter established the college under the corporate name '''the trustees of Queen's College, in New-Jersey''', named in honor of [[Queen Charlotte]] (1744–1818), and created both the college and the Queen's College Grammar School, intended to be a [[University-preparatory school|preparatory school]] affiliated and governed by the college.<ref name="sketch" /> The Grammar School, today the private [[Rutgers Preparatory School]], was a part of the college community until 1959.<ref name="sketch" /><ref name = "years">[https://timeline.rutgers.edu/ Rutgers Through the Years], Rutgers University. Accessed January 1, 2025.</ref> New Brunswick was chosen as the location over [[Hackensack, New Jersey|Hackensack]] because the New Brunswick Dutch had the support of the [[Anglican]] population, making the royal charter easier to obtain.<ref>[[Israel Shenker|Shenker, Israel]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/29/archives/rutgers-still-uneasy-as-the-state-university.html "Rutgers Still Uneasy as the State University"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 29, 1975. Accessed January 1, 2025. "It was founded in 1766, as Queen's College, by Dutch Reformed faithful who felt betrayed when coreligionists joined Anglicans to found King's College (later Columbia University). New Brunswick, chosen over Hackensack as the college site, had about 150 houses at the time, and the first class was set up in a former tavern ('Sign of the Red Lion')."</ref>
[[File:Old Queens, New Brunswick, NJ - looking north, 2014.jpg|thumb|[[Old Queens]], the oldest building at Rutgers University in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]], built between 1809 and 1825; Old Queens houses much of the Rutgers University administration.]]
The original purpose of Queen's College was to "educate the youth in language, [[liberal arts|liberal, the divinity, and useful arts]] and sciences" and for the training of future ministers for the Dutch Reformed Church.<ref name="sketch" /><ref name="years" /><ref>''A Charter for Queen's College in New Jersey'' (1770) in Special Collections and University Archives, Archibald S. Alexander Library, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.</ref>

In 1771, the college admitted its first students, which included a single sophomore and a handful of first-year students taught by a lone instructor, and granted its first degree in 1774, to [[Matthew Leydt]].<ref name="sketch" /><ref name="years" /> Despite the religious nature of the early college, the first classes were held at a [[tavern]] called the Sign of the Red Lion.<ref>[http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/bogart/r1.htm Rutgers College and the American Revolution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821224309/http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/bogart/r1.htm |date=August 21, 2006 }}. Retrieved July 12, 2006</ref> When the Revolutionary War broke out and taverns were suspected by the British as being hotbeds of rebel activity, the college abandoned the tavern and held classes in private homes.<ref name="sketch" /><ref name="years" />

Like many colleges founded in the U.S. during this time, Rutgers benefited from slave labor and funds derived from purchasing and selling slaves. Research undertaken at the university in the 2010s began to uncover and document these connections, including the university's foundation on land taken from the indigenous [[Lenape]] people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://scarletandblack.rutgers.edu/ |title=Rutgers Scarlet and Black Project |publisher=Rutgers University |date=2021 |access-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329013742/https://scarletandblack.rutgers.edu/ |url-status=live }}</ref>