Thirty-seven students graduated from Bowdoin College on September 7, 1825, the College’s twentieth commencement. Among them were future Congressmen, a U.S. Senator, numerous state politicians, the President of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, a U.S. Marshall, the uncle by marriage to Emily Dickinson, a fiery, famous abolitionist and temperance minister who was jailed for his beliefs, and two of America’s foremost authors: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Long described as Bowdon’s most famous class, it is easy to forget that at Bowdoin they were just boys learning to navigate the world. This exhibit, in celebration of the class’s 200th anniversary, explores the college days, from academics to pranks, of the illustrious class. Meet the Class of 1825, before they were famous!
