From the archives: The earliest record of the College ‘named’ in honor of Marquis de Lafayette

By Kristen Vincent ’26

During the Bicentennial, Lafayette Today will highlight the College’s history each month by sharing a photo or object from College Archives. Want to learn more about a specific piece? Reach out to archives@lafayette.edu for more historical information.

Lafayette College was named Dec. 27, 1824, at the Easton Hotel by the citizens of the County of Northampton, which notably included the selection of Col. Thomas McKeen as chairman. Upon naming the College, the citizens also wrote a preamble, including the sentiment, “In a free government, to preserve our freedom and understand our rights, education should be sedulously cultivated; for tyranny and superstition can only subjugate when the mind is debased and unimproved.”

This minute book shows the account where the college was named.