Henry Chandler
Class of 1874 - First African American Graduate

While Bates College was founded on abolitionist principles and has always accepted students of color, Henry Wilkins Chandler was the first African American student to graduate. While Chandler was born free, six of the first nine African American students at Bates were former slaves, most recruited by Bates founder Oren Cheney from refugee camps around Washington, D.C., during and after the Civil War. Read more about Henry Chandler...

Mary W. Mitchell
Class of 1869 - First Female Graduate

Mary Wheelwright Mitchell was the first female graduate of Bates College. Born in 1846 in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, she worked in the mills to pay her way through college and help her family. She was remembered as stubborn and independent; offered a scholarship by Bates founder Oren Cheney, Mitchell turned it down: "I cannot take that, Mr. Cheney. Give it to the brethren. I can take care of myself." Read more about Mary W. Mitchell...

Oren B. Cheney
Founder - First President of Bates College, 1855-1894

Oren Burbank Cheney was born in 1816 in Holderness, N.H., to prominent abolitionist parents. He was educated at the Parsonsfield Seminary (a Freewill Baptist school) and Dartmouth College, graduating with the Class of 1839.  Read more about Oren B. Cheney...

Benjamin E. Mays
Class of 1920 - 'Schoolmaster of the Revolution'

Benjamin Elijah Mays was born in South Carolina in 1894 to former slaves. The youngest of eight children, he grew up in a segregated, Jim Crow society (Mays first earned the right to vote in 1945 when he was 51 years old). He graduated from Bates in 1920, after which he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. In 1922, Mays became a Baptist minister and from 1934 to 1940 was dean of Howard University's School of Religion. He was an advisor to U.S. presidents, served as the first African American president of the Atlanta Board of Education, and was the president of Morehouse College for 27 years. Read more about Benjamin E. Mays...

Edmund S. Muskie
Class of 1936 - Governor, Senator, Presidential Candidate, Secretary of State

Edmund Sixtus Muskie was born in 1914 in Rumford, Maine. The son of a Polish immigrant tailor, he attended public schools and graduated as the valedictorian of Stephens High School. At Bates he was class president and debated. He graduated in 1936 cum laude and went on to Cornell Law School. He enlisted in the Navy during World War II and served both in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Read more about Edmund S. Muskie...

F. Brooks Quimby
Class of 1918 - Speech Professor 1927-1967, Debate Leader

Frank Brooks Quimby was born in 1897 in Turner, Maine. A 1918 Bates graduate, Quimby had been involved in debate since high school. Traditionally, Bates underclassmen did not compete in intercollegiate debates, but the talented Quimby was the first chosen to compete all four years. After graduation, Quimby volunteered for service in World War I, became a chicken farmer upon his return from the war and then turned to teaching. As a teacher and the coach of the debate team at Deering High School in Portland, Quimby led the team to several state championships. Read more about F. Brooks Quimby...

Jonathan Y. Stanton
Professor 1863-1906 - "Uncle Johnny," Professor of Greek and Latin, Debate Mentor, Ornithologist

Jonathan Young Stanton, known to his Bates students as "Uncle Johnny" was born in Lebanon, Maine, in 1834. A graduate of Bowdoin College, Class of 1856, he came to Bates in 1863 as professor of Greek and Latin, also serving as librarian. He led debates and taught a popular class in ornithology. His bird walks were attended by students and townspeople alike. The local Stanton Bird Club is active to this day, and one of his students created the Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary. Read more about Jonathan Y. Stanton...

George C. Chase
President 1894-1919 - 'The Great Builder'

George Colby Chase, a member of the Bates Class of 1869, taught for 22 years as professor of English before becoming Oren Cheny's successor as president. Known as "the great builder," he oversaw the construction of 11 new buildings, including Coram Library, Carnegie Science Hall, Rand Hall, the Chapel and Chase Hall. Under his presidency the number of students and faculty tripled. His extensive philanthropic travels for Bates grew the endowment; back on campus, Chase fostered a new activity: intercollegiate debate. Read more about George C. Chase...

Clifton D. Gray
President 1920-1944 - 'The Human Aspects'

Clifton Daggett Gray, clergyman and former editor of the Baptist publication The Standard, led Bates through an era of expansion and the challenges posed by the Great Depression and World War II. Gray increased student enrollment from 527 to a pre-World War II high of 749, grew the faculty from 36 to 70, and doubled the endowment. Read more about Clifton Daggett Gray...

Charles F. Phillips
President 1944-1969 - A Plan for Bates

Appointed at age 34, Charles Franklin Phillips was Bates' youngest president, yet his initial achievement - initiating the famous Bates Plan of Education - championing the most traditional strength of the College, the liberal arts, as "the basis of a worth-while career." The Bates Plan featured a core curriculum of liberal arts study as well as the "3/4 option," permitting a three-year degree. Phillips also expanded the campus with the additions of Memorial Commons, Health Center, Dana Chemistry Hall, Lane Hall, Page Hall, Schaeffer Theater and others. Read more about Charles F. Phillips...

T. Hedley Reynolds
President 1967-1989 - Champion of the Faculty

Arriving at Bates during a tumultuous time for U.S. colleges, Thomas Hedley Reynolds was also faced with students upset by strict campus social rules reflecting 1950s sensibilities. He guided the College through the campus tensions of the late 1960s and 1970s with a renewed emphasis on involving all members of the community in decision-making. During the national student strike as part of the Vietnam War protests, Reynolds joined with students in discussions, letter-writing campaigns, peaceful marches and a volunteer spring clean up in Lewiston. Read more about T. Hedley Reynolds...

Donald W. Harward
President 1989-2002 - Bates Reaches Out

Through expanded academic programs and campus facilities, spirited efforts to reach out beyond Bates, and a near-constant encouragement to the Bates community to engage in the work of the College collaboratively and with civility, Harward helped Bates discover ways to translate a traditional culture of hard work, egalitarianism and social justice into greater excellence and national reputation. Read more about Donald W. Harward...

Lavinia M. Schaeffer
Professor 1938-1972 - The Face of Bates Theater for 34 Years

The number of theater courses at U.S. colleges surged in the 1930s, and these newly invigorated collegiate programs often reflected the energy, vision and creativity of one faculty member. At Bates, that person was Lavinia Miriam Schaeffer. To her students, it was once written, she was "a sparkle of a spirit, moving and speaking in accents and rhythms that were undeniably different, and exciting." Read more about Lavinia M. Schaeffer...

Euterpe Boukis Dukakis
Class of 1925 - An Immigrant's Story

Her life began in Larissa, Greece, in 1903 and ended, nearly a full century later, in America. In between, Euterpe Boukis Dukakis '25 blazed a trail for immigrants, becoming the first Greek-American woman to attend a U.S. college away from home. A brilliant and diligent student who came to Bates from Haverhill, Mass., where her immigrant family settled, she engaged in extracurricular activities, earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa, and remained loyal to Bates her entire life, establishing in 1994 an endowed professorship in classical and medieval studies.  Read more about Euterpe Boukis Dukakis...