Evolution of the College: Home

"Union Seminary" was chosen as the the name of a new school because it was located in Union County, Pennsylvania. It was located in the small town of New Berlin. Rev. William W. Orwig was the founder of the seminary which was like a high school. The doors to the seminary opened on Thursday, January 3, 1856, and Rev. Orwig was the Seminary's principal from 1856 until 1859. "The charter of the seminary, which had been granted by the Court of Common Pleas of Union County, December 17, 1855, allowed it to graduate only young women, after a three-year course. Young men had to go elsewhere to finish their college work." (A History of Albright College, 1856-1956)

The Seminary continued until 1887, when, through the perseverance of Ezra Gobble, the Seminary became a four-year college. It was then named Central Pennsylvania College. Rev. Gobble served as the president from 1879 until 1887.

In 1902 the church conference could no longer support the college in New Berlin and enrollment had continually declined. Rev. Gobble continued as the President, serving from 1887 until 1902.

Albright Collegiate Institute had begun in 1895 and was located in Myerstown, PA, and in 1898 it was rechartered as Albright College. In 1902 Central Pennsylvania College left New Berlin and merged with Albright College in Myerstown. Schuylkill College merged with Albright College in 1928 in Reading, PA.

Schuylkill Seminary had begun in 1881 in Reading, PA. It moved to Fredericksburg, PA, in 1886. In 1902 the seminary then moved back to Reading and in 1923 it was rechartered as Schulykill College. It existed until 1928 when it merged with Albright.