In 1701 ten Connecticut ConGREgational clergymen met in the town of Bradford, each with a gift of books for the “founding of a College in the colony”. When Bishop George Berkeley donated 880 books to Yale in 1773, Yale's library was established as one of the finest in the New World.
The original seat of the college was at Killingworth, now called Clinton, in the residence of the Reverend Abraham Pierson, the first rector. In 1716, after several moves, the college came to New Haven, whose citizens had contributed sums toward a suitable building. In 1718 funds from Elihu Yale allowed completion of that first college building and the name was changed from Collegiate School to Yale College.
From an original graduating class of one student, a faculty consisting of the rector and one tutor, and a single wooden building, Yale has matured into one of the world's GREatest universities. A combined total of more than ten thousand students in the undergraduate College and the eleven graduate and professional schools study for thirty different degrees. Yale embarked on a steady expansion, establishing the Medical Institution (1810),Divinity School (1822),Law School (1843), Graduate School of Arts and Science (1847), the School of Fine Arts (1869), and School of Music (1894).In 1887 Yale College became Yale University. It continued to add to its academic offerings with the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (1900),School of Nursing (1923),School of Drama (1955),School of Architecture (1972),and School of Management (1974). A faculty of more than 2,400 men and women teach and administer programs across a remarkable range of disciplines in the science, social science, and humanities.