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State University of New York at Brockport chronicles the history of a highly respected public college in western New York State. Founded by Erie Canal entrepreneurs as a Baptist college in 1835, the institution became an academy in 1841, a state-funded normal school in 1867, a state teachers college in 1941, and finally the comprehensive college, within the nations largest public university system, that it is today. The postPWorld War II era witnessed two bursts of dramatic enrollment growth, one underwritten by the 1944 GI Bill, the other inspired by local initiatives and expansive state funding in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The colleges selection to host the 1979 International Special Olympics concluded a 20-year period of dynamic innovation. In the 1980s, the college struggled to adjust to reduced public funding and declining enrollments before achieving stability and regaining its solid reputation.
About the author
The authors of State University of New York at Brockport collectively have served the college for over three-quarters of a century: Mary Jo Gigliotti is the college archivist; W. Bruce Leslie, a social historian, specializes in the history of higher education; and Kenneth P. O'Brien, former Monroe County historian, is a modern American historian.
