Daniel Coit Gilman (; July 6, 1831 – October 13, 1908) was an American educator and academic. Gilman was instrumental in founding the

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale University, Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Jos ...

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, and subsequently served as the second president of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, as the first president of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, and as founding president of the Carnegie Institution. Eponymous halls at both Berkeley and Hopkins pay tribute to his service. He was also co-founder of the Russell Trust Association, which administers the business affairs of Yale's

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

society. Gilman served for twenty five years as president of Johns Hopkins; his inauguration in 1876 has been said to mark "the starting point of

postgraduate education Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

in the U.S."

Biography

Early life and education

He was born in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, the son of Eliza (Coit) and mill owner William Charles Gilman, a descendant of Edward Gilman, one of the first settlers of

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a New England town, town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. Its population was 16,049 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county ...

; of Thomas Dudley, governor of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

and one of the founders of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

; and of Thomas Adgate, one of the founders of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in 1659. Daniel Coit Gilman graduated from

in 1852 with a degree in geography. At Yale, he was a classmate of

Andrew Dickson White Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American historian and educator who co-founded Cornell University, one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States, and served as its first president for nearly two de ...

, who would later serve as first president of

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. The two were members of the

secret society, and traveled to Europe together after graduation and remained lifelong friends. Gilman was also a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Gilman would later co-found the Russell Trust Association, the foundation behind

. After serving as

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

of the United States

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

at St. Petersburg, Russia from 1853 to 1855, he returned to Yale and was active in planning and raising funds for the founding of

. Gilman contemplated going into the ministry, and even obtained a license to preach, but later settled on a career in education. Portrait Mr Gilman of Norwich

Career

Daniel Coit Gilman William Rainey Harper

From 1856 to 1865, Gilman served as librarian of

, and was also concerned with improving the

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

public school system. When the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

broke out, Gilman became the recruiting sergeant for the Norton Cadets, a group of Yale graduates and faculty who drilled on the

New Haven Green The New Haven Green is a privately owned park and recreation area located in the downtown New Haven, downtown district of the city of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It comprises the central square of the nine-square settlement plan of t ...

under the oversight of Yale professor

William Augustus Norton {{infobox person , name = William A. Norton , image = William A Norton portrait.jpg , alt = , caption = Portrait of Norton at Yale College , birth_name = William Augustus Norton , birth_date = , birth ...

. In 1863, he was appointed professor of geography at the

, and became secretary and librarian as well in 1866. Having been passed over for the presidency of Yale, for which post Gilman was said to have been the favorite of the younger faculty, he resigned these posts in 1872 to become the third president of the newly organized

. His work there was hampered by the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

, and in 1875 Gilman accepted the offer to establish and become first president of

. Before being formally installed as president in 1876, he spent a year studying university organization and selecting an outstanding staff of teachers and scholars. His formal inauguration, on 22 February 1876, has become Hopkins' Commemoration Day, the day on which many university presidents have chosen to be installed in office. Among the legendary educators he assembled to teach at Johns Hopkins were classicist Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, mathematician

James Joseph Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership ...

, historian Herbert Baxter Adams and chemist Ira Remsen. In 1876, Gilman was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. Gilman's primary interest was in fostering advanced instruction and research, and as president he developed the first American graduate university in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

tradition. The aim of the modern research university, said Gilman, was to "extend, even by minute accretions, the realm of knowledge" At his inaugural address at Hopkins, Gilman asked: "What are we aiming at?" The answer, he said, was "the encouragement of research and the advancement of individual scholars, who by their excellence will advance the sciences they pursue, and the society where they dwell." In 1884, Gilman was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

. Gilman was also active in founding

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

in 1889 and Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1893. He founded and was for many years president of the Charity Organization of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, and in 1897 he served on the commission to draft a new charter for

.''New Century Reference Library'', 1907 From 1896 to 1897, he was a member of the commission to settle the boundary line between

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

. Gilman served as a trustee of the John F. Slater and Peabody education funds and as a member of John D. Rockefeller's General Education Board. In this capacity, he became active in the promotion of education in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. He was president of the National Civil Service Reform League (1901–1907) and the

American Oriental Society The American Oriental Society is a learned society that encourages basic research in the languages and literatures of the Near East and Asia. It was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned ...

(1893–1906), vice president of the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America, North America's oldest learned society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and ...

, and executive officer of the Maryland Geological Survey. He retired from Johns Hopkins in 1901, but accepted the presidency (1902–1904) of the newly founded Carnegie Institution of Washington. His books include biographies of

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

(1883) and

James Dwight Dana James Dwight Dana Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (February 12, 1813 – April 14, 1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcano, volcanic activity, and the ...

, a collection of addresses entitled ''University Problems'' (1898), and ''The Launching of a University'' (1906).

Personal life

Daniel Coit Gilman House Baltimore Maryland 1936

Gilman married twice. His first wife was Mary Van Winker Ketcham, daughter of Tredwell Ketcham of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. They married on December 4, 1861, and had two daughters: Alice, who married Everett Wheeler; and Elisabeth Gilman, who became a social activist and was a candidate for mayor of Baltimore, and for governor and senator of Maryland, on the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

ticket. Mary Ketcham Gilman died in 1869, and Daniel Coit Gilman married his second wife, Elizabeth Dwight Woolsey, daughter of John M. Woolsey of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, and niece of Yale president Theodore Dwight Woolsey, in 1877. Daniel Gilman's brother Edward Whiting Gilman was married to Julia Silliman, daughter of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

professor and chemist

Benjamin Silliman Benjamin Silliman (August 8, 1779 – November 24, 1864) was an American chemist and science education, science educator. He was one of the first American professors of science, the first science professor at Yale University, Yale, and the firs ...

. Daniel Coit Gilman died in Norwich, Connecticut.

Legacy

The original academic building on the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University, Gilman Hall, is named in his honor. In 1897, he helped found a preparatory school called 'The Country School for Boys' on the Johns Hopkins campus. Upon relocation in 1910, it was renamed in his honor and today, the

Gilman School Gilman School is an all-boys independent school, independent, day school, day, college preparatory school located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. There are three school divisions: Lower School, grades pre ...

continues to be regarded among the nation's elite private boys' schools. On the

campus, Gilman Hall, also named in his honor, is the oldest building of the College of Chemistry and a National Historic Chemical Landmark. Named for Gilman as well is Gilman Street in Berkeley. Gilman Drive, which passes through the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

campus in La Jolla, CA is also named for Gilman. The Daniel Coit Gilman Summer House, in Maine, was declared a U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1965. and Gilman High School in

Northeast Harbor, Maine Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The village has a significant summer population, and has long been a quiet enclave of the rich and famous. S ...

, was named for Daniel Coit Gilman, who was active in local educational affairs, but it was later rebuilt and christened Mount Desert High School. He was awarded

American Library Association Honorary Membership Honorary Membership conferred by the American Library Association is the Association's highest award. "Honorary membership may be conferred on a living citizen of any country whose contribution to librarianship or a closely related field is so outs ...

in 1895.

Published works by Daniel Coit Gilman

* ''Scientific Schools in Europe'', Hartford, 1856 * ''A Historical Discourse Delivered in Norwich, Connecticut, September 7, 1859, at the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Settlement of the Town'', Boston, 1859
''The Library of Yale College: Historical Sketch''
New Haven, 1860 * ''Our National Schools of Science'', Cambridge, 1867 * ''Statement of the Progress and Condition of the University of California'', Berkeley, 1875 * ''James Monroe in His Relations to the Public Service During Half a Century, 1776–1826'', Boston, 1883
''The Benefits Which Society Derives from Universities''
Baltimore, 1885 * ''An Address Before the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

Society of Harvard University, July 1, 1886'', Baltimore, 1886 * ''Development of the Public Library in America'', Ithaca, 1891 * ''Our Relations to Our Other Neighbors'', Baltimore, 1891
''The Johns Hopkins University from 1873 to 1893''
Baltimore, 1893 * ''Recollections of the Life of John Glenn Who Died in Baltimore, March 30, 1896'', Baltimore, 1896 * ''University Problems in the United States'', New York, 1898 * ''Democracy in America'',

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

, introduction by Daniel Coit Gilman, New York, 1898
''The Life of James Dwight Dana, Scientific Explorer, Mineralogist, Geologist, Zoologist, Professor in Yale University''
New York, 1899 * ''Memorial of Samuel de Champlain: Who Discovered the Island of Mt. Desert, Maine, September 5, 1604'', Baltimore, 1904 * ''The Launching of a University and Other Papers'', New York, 1906

Papers of Daniel Coit Gilman

Th
Papers of Daniel Coit Gilman
were donated to Johns Hopkins University by Gilman's daughter Elisabeth, and are open on an unrestricted basis to the public at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at Hopkins. Aside from many photographs of Gilman and his contemporaries, the papers include Gilman's correspondence with leading figures of the day, including Charles W. Eliot, Sidney Lanier,

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets to r ...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

, Basil Gildersleeve,

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts ...

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...

Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...

Henry Ward Beecher Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the Abolitionism, abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery ...

William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first Residency (medicine), residency program for speci ...

, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T Washington and others.

References

External links

* *
Daniel Coit Gilman papers
– Finding aid for collection of Gilman papers at the Johns Hopkins University
A Historical Discourse Delivered in Norwich, Connecticut, September 7, 1859, Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Settlement of the Town, Daniel Coit Gilman, Printed by George C. Rand & Avery, Boston, Mass., 1859
*
Statue of Daniel Coit Gilman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, monumentcity.org

* ttp://historicbuildingsct.com/?p=1157 The Graves-Gilman House, New Haven, Connecticut, Historic Buildings of Connecticut
Daniel Coit Gilman HIstoric Marker, Bolton HIll Historic District, Baltimore, Maryland

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, Daniel Coit 1831 births 1908 deaths American male journalists Journalists from California People of Connecticut in the American Civil War American Congregationalists Gilman family (New Hampshire) People from Norwich, Connecticut People from Northeast Harbor, Maine 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American geographers Librarians from California 19th-century American non-fiction writers 19th-century American biographers American male biographers 19th-century American essayists American encyclopedists Johns Hopkins Hospital Presidents of Johns Hopkins University University of California, Berkeley faculty Yale University faculty University of California regents American people of Welsh descent American people of English descent Socialist Party of America politicians from Maryland Yale College alumni Leaders of the University of California, Berkeley American male essayists Activists from California Members of Skull and Bones Historians of libraries Members of the American Philosophical Society