By Mateja Markovic

While only the mighty picture of the new Seabury, Northam, and Jarvis Halls was presented as the topic, the real historical meaning cannot be understood from the picture alone. The photo was obtained from an article found in the Watkinson library dating back to January of 1964. This piece was published and saved in the archives of the Trinity College Alumni Magazine, authored by Trinity’s very own Dr. Glen Weaber. The detailed article includes every tiny snippet of information about the complete moving process of Trinity College, dating back to the mid-1800s. While the picture’s obvious strong impressions will be used to channel those ranges of emotions which Hartford residents and all Bantams must have felt during those stressful years, it is important to know that the article titled Trinity College moves to the new Campus indeed provides all the necessary context regarding the turbulent years prior to, and after the move.  

Approaching Trinity’s 50th anniversary, the school was under the brilliant leadership of President Abner Jackson, who stood out compared to his previous leaders. Unlike his predecessors, Jackson approached his position with a unique motivation and a desire for genuine change for the better. Not only did he embody this mission while in office, Jackson took active steps to try to secure the college’s financial future.  For example- he worked on motivating Professors to work at Trinity by offering extra benefits. While the salary at the time was about $3000 dollars a year (on the low end among sister schools), couldn't be raised much higher due to Trinity's lack of funds, Jackson took the initiative to offer cheap housing alternatives to faculty members that were on campus. This made Trinity competitive with some of the Ivies who offered their employees almost double the salary. The tuition at this time was about $2000 a year.

Unfortunately for him and the Trustees, the mission seemed next to impossible. The annual struggle to make ends meet seemed relentless, with almost futile efforts to make up for the deficits. Aside from being tasked with filling holes in the budget, President Jackson was also occupied with trying to entice more professors to join the College, with offers of housing and additional financial perils, as mentioned above. With the academic year 1872-73, things looked very poor for Trinity. According to the calculations, the College was to accumulate a loss so high that it would’ve been unlikely for the institution to bounce back- if it wasn’t for the biggest deal in Hartford history, that is. 

Around the same time, political negotiations of an unprecedented medium were stirring- The state of Connecticut needed a Capital. When Hartford was finally settled on as the new Capital of the state, the gov’t was desperate to acquire the most desirable location in town to build a new Connecticut Capitol building- Trinity’s campus. However, the students and the administrators were ready to defend their position- they didn’t want to give up their land. Even the alumni weighed in, effectively preventing any possibility of a transaction. Eventually, the price that was offered was so high that Trinity had to take it. The sum was to be used towards the construction of a brand new campus, two miles from the original location- on Zion Hill. Trinity College sold their land for approximately $600 000 - which would be anywhere from $16 to $20 million when adjusted for inflation (sources differ).

This move, at least on paper, looked beneficial for every side. However, it was much different in reality. For Trinity, the complicated process of planning the new campus and the sudden death of President Jackson resulted in only about half of the planned structures being executed, and they were much different than originally conceived. The motivation of the officials to drive up the prices of real-estate in Zion area with moving Trinity there resulted in less gain than anticipated. Connecticut did get a new capitol building, with construction casting the county into further debt. 

However, the picture of finished Long Walk buildings above serves as a beautiful reminder of Trinity’s incredible persistence. In a way, I would say that those buildings serve as a symbol of perseverance of both the students and the administrators of this institution. 

Sources: