Eastern: A Timeline of Service and Progress

1889

• Willimantic State Normal School (WNS) opens on the third floor of the Willimantic Savings Institute
• Arthur B. Morrill becomes principal (1889-1893)

1891

• The first graduation ceremony sends 22 women out into the world to become schoolteachers

1893

• George P. Phenix becomes principal (1893-1904)

1894

• Faculty and students leave Main Street and move up the hill to the first dedicated WNS building 

1898

The women’s basketball team wins league championship

1904

• Henry T. Burr becomes principal (1904-1918)
• Miriam Skidmore begins tenure (1904-1928) as the lead trainer for student teachers

1908

• WNS graduates its first two African American teachers

1910

• Windham Street Model School opens to provide student teaching opportunities for WNS students
• Room and board costs $200 per year

1918

• George Shafer becomes principal (1918-1947)

1921

• First dormitory constructed, named after the school’s third principal, Henry T. Burr 

1924

• Model school burns down

1928

• Model school replaced with what is now Noble Hall (dedicated in 1957), named after Frederick R. Noble, longtime principal of the model school 

1930

• Room and board averages $325 per year for the 173 students attending WNS

1937

• Willimantic State Normal School transitions to a four-year curriculum and changes name to Willimantic State Teachers College (WSTC), making George Shafer the college’s first president.

1939

• For the first time, there are enough men in attendance to form a men’s basketball team

1942

• WSTC men’s basketball team becomes division champion in the New England Teachers Conference

1943

• The original Normal School building burns down after serving as the only classroom and administration building for 48 years

1947

• James Eugene Smith becomes the second President of WSTC (1947-1966)
• The Knight House and 20 acres purchased as the college begins to develop up the hill

1948

• Original WNS building replaced and later named Shafer Hall
• Juliette Burstermann joins the faculty as the first African American professor at WSTC 

1957

• Replaced model school is renovated and named Noble Hall
• First graduate program offered in education

1959

• Name change to Willimantic State College
• New student union/dormitory built (Winthrop Hall)

1966

• Searle Charles becomes the third President (1966-1970); during his tenure, school becomes Eastern Connecticut State College

1967

• Goddard Science Building opens

1970

• Charles Richard Webb becomes the fourth President (1970-1988)

1971

• Several years after President Smith’s retirement, Eastern dedicates the original J. Eugene Smith Library in his honor (it is now Wood Support Services)
• Construction begins on $2.7 million Sports Center

1981

• National softball champions

1983

• School completes its metamorphosis and becomes Eastern Connecticut State University

1988

• David G. Carter becomes Eastern's fifth President (1988-2006)

1992

• Classroom building built and dedicated in 1999 to President Webb
• Noble Hall renovated

1998

• Niejadlik Hall built
• Baseball stadium/sports complex built
• Connecticut State University System Board of Trustees approves Eastern’s public liberal arts mission

1999

• New library built and dedicated to President Smith
• Mead Hall built
• Admissions building built
• Foster Clock Tower built

2002

• Gelsi Young Hall built

2003

• Parking garage built

2004

• Eastern becomes member of Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC)
• Constitution Hall open

2005

• Laurel and Nutmeg Halls open

2006

• Burr Hall goes from exclusively female to coed after extensive renovations
• Child Family Development Resource Center opens
• Elsa Núñez becomes Eastern's sixth President (2006-2024)

2008

• Expanded and renovated Student Center opens

2009

• Science Building Opens

2016

• Fine Arts Instructional Center Opens

2018

• Communication Building reopens with remodeled TV and radio studios

2019

• Goddard and Shafer Halls reopen following extensive remodeling

2021

• Eastern named New England's #1 Public University third straight year (U.S. News and World Report)

2022

• Baseball team wins fifth national NCAA title

2024

• Karim Ismaili appointed as Eastern's Seventh President

 

Eastern History Book