History of UMass Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston has a rich history that is intertwined with the city it calls home and, with the 25-year Master Plan, it will continue to make history.
UMass Boston actually has two histories.
One begins in 1852 with the founding of Girls’ High School. Girls’ High School became Boston State College, which merged with UMass Boston in 1982.
The second begins in 1863 with the founding of Massachusetts Agricultural College, the future University of Massachusetts.
History #1
In 1851, Superintendent Nathan Bishop proposed building a normal school to train elementary school teachers. Girls’ High School held its first classes in the Adams School building on Mason Street in 1852.
Girls’ High was renamed Girls’ High and Normal School in 1854. It moved to new quarters on West Newton Street in 1870.
Boston Normal School became a separate institution in 1872 and moved to first the Rice School building on Dartmouth Street in 1876, then a specially-built facility on Huntington Avenue in 1907.
The school then went through another series of name changes:
- 1922: Teachers College of the City of Boston
- 1952: State Teachers College at Boston
- 1960: State College at Boston
- 1968: Boston State College
In 1982, Boston State merged with UMass Boston to form what has become one of the state’s major academic enterprises and Boston’s only public university.
History #2
Massachusetts Agricultural College (M.A.C.) was founded in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1863.
Over the next century, Mass Aggie, as it was known in the early years, grew into the existing UMass system.
M.A.C. became Massachusetts State College in 1931 and the University of Massachusetts in 1947.
In 1964, the state legislature voted to establish a new university campus in Boston, thus creating the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The first classes were held at UMass Boston’s current harbor location in 1974.
The Campus Center opened in 2004. The campus will continue to grow as part of UMass Boston’s 25-year Master Plan.
Making history
These two histories, which came together in 1982 when Boston State became part of UMass Boston, have long shared a common strand: the abiding belief of generations of students and their teachers in what the Boston State motto calls “education for service.”
Location. Location. Location.
UMass Boston is the only one of the five campuses of the University of Massachusetts located in the city of Boston.
The campus is located on Columbia Point. Surrounded by water, it shares 100 acres with other prominent Boston landmarks:
- the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
- the Massachusetts Archives building
- the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate (under construction)
The harbor walk along the perimeter of Columbia Point offers exquisite views of:
- the harbor
- the skyline of the city of Boston
- the Boston Harbor Islands National Park, including Georges Island, Spectacle Island, Thompson Island, and others
