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Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins, the university's namesake, was long celebrated as a fervent abolitionist who supported Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, yet census records from 1840 and 1850 reveal he claimed to own at least five household slaves. This contradiction emerged only after the school conducted its own research into historical documents, shattering the myth of his unwavering moral stance and complicating the legacy of the $7 million bequest he left upon his death in 1873. The donation, generated primarily from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was the largest philanthropic gift in United States history up to that time, establishing both a hospital and a university in Baltimore. The university was named for him, but the man himself was a childless bachelor whose wealth came from a complex history of industrial success and racial contradiction. His will stipulated that the institutions be built on the vast grounds of his estate, Clifton, but the financial reality of the railroad stocks becoming virtually worthless forced the university to find a new home, delaying the construction of the campus for decades. The original board opted for an entirely novel university model dedicated to the discovery of knowledge at an advanced level, extending the model of contemporary Germany, specifically Heidelberg University, to create the first research university in the United States.
Building Men Not Buildings
Daniel Coit Gilman, the university's first president inaugurated on the 22nd of February 1876, decided that it would be best to use the university's endowment for recruiting faculty and students, famously paraphrasing the decision as building men, not buildings. This audacious academic experiment merged teaching and research, dismissing the idea that the two were mutually exclusive. Gilman recruited internationally known researchers including the mathematician James Joseph Sylvester, the biologist H. Newell Martin, and the physicist Henry Augustus Rowland, the first president of the American Physical Society. The university became the national trendsetter in doctoral programs and the host for numerous scholarly journals and associations, with the Johns Hopkins University Press, founded in 1878, becoming the oldest American university press in continuous operation. The original home of the university was in Downtown Baltimore, but the trustees eventually acquired the Homewood estate of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, to establish the flagship campus. The Homewood House, built in 1801, still stands as an on-campus museum, and its Federal style became the architectural inspiration for much of the university campus, contrasting with the Collegiate Gothic style of other historic American universities. Gilman's vision shifted higher education in the United States from a focus on teaching revealed and applied knowledge to the scientific discovery of new knowledge, creating a prototype for academic medicine that emphasized bedside learning, research projects, and laboratory training.
Did Johns Hopkins own slaves despite being an abolitionist?
Census records from 1840 and 1850 reveal that Johns Hopkins claimed to own at least five household slaves. This fact emerged after the school conducted its own research into historical documents, shattering the myth of his unwavering moral stance.
When was Johns Hopkins University founded and who was its first president?
Johns Hopkins University was founded in 1883 with Daniel Coit Gilman inaugurated as its first president on the 22nd of February 1876. Gilman decided to use the university's endowment for recruiting faculty and students rather than building structures.
When did the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine admit women for the first time?
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was established in 1893 and became America's first coeducational graduate-level medical school. The school required a bachelor's degree for admission and admitted women on an equal basis with men.
When did Johns Hopkins University receive its largest private donation from Michael Bloomberg?
On the 18th of November 2018, it was announced that Michael Bloomberg would make a donation of $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University. This gift brought Bloomberg's total contribution to the school in excess of $3.3 billion.
When did the Johns Hopkins Police Department begin active patrols?
The finalized memorandum of understanding for the Johns Hopkins Police Department was issued in December 2022. Officer recruitment and training began in spring 2024 with active patrols commencing in summer 2024.
How many national titles has the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team won?
The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse team has won 44 national titles. The team has won nine NCAA Division I titles in 2007, 2005, 1987, 1985, 1984, 1980, 1979, 1978, and 1974.
The School of Medicine, established in 1893, became America's first coeducational, graduate-level medical school, a milestone achieved through the efforts of Mary E. Garrett, who had endowed the school at Gilman's request. The school required a bachelor's degree for admission and admitted women on an equal basis with men, a radical move for the time that set a new standard for academic medicine. During this period, the university attracted world-renowned faculty members who became major figures in the emerging field of academic medicine, including William Osler, William Halsted, Howard Kelly, and William Welch. The medical school's influence extended beyond the classroom, as it became a model for modern medical education and is considered one of the leading centers for medical research and innovation in the United States. The school's history includes the story of Vivien Thomas, an African American surgical technician who was instrumental in developing and conducting the first successful blue baby operation in 1944, a partnership that was later dramatized in the HBO movie Something the Lord Made. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, completed in 1889, and the medical school together created a research-focused mode of instruction that attracted faculty who would become major figures in the emerging field of academic medicine, including those who would later win Nobel Prizes for their discoveries in physiology and medicine.
The Defense and Space Frontier
Since 1942, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, located in Laurel, Maryland, has served as a major governmental defense contractor, specializing in research for the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA. The laboratory has designed, built, and flown spacecraft for NASA to the asteroid Eros, and the planets Mercury and Pluto, while also developing more than 100 biomedical devices in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. In 2000, Johns Hopkins received $95.4 million in research grants from NASA, making it the leading recipient of NASA research and development funding, and in fiscal year 2002, Hopkins became the first university to cross the $1 billion threshold on federally sponsored research. The university has had every year since 1979 the highest federal research funding of any American university, with total research and development expenditures leading all U.S. universities for over four consecutive decades. This research dominance has been sustained through the work of the Applied Physics Laboratory, which has become a primary campus for master's degrees in a variety of STEM fields, and through the university's ability to attract top researchers to joint appointments throughout the nine divisions and research centers.
The Billion Dollar Gift
On the 18th of November 2018, it was announced that Michael Bloomberg, an alumnus of the university, would make a donation of $1.8 billion to his alma mater, marking the largest private donation in modern history to an institution of higher education. This gift brought Bloomberg's total contribution to the school in excess of $3.3 billion and allowed the university to practice need-blind admission and meet the full financial need of admitted students. The Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships program, established in 2013 by a $250 million gift, enables the university to recruit fifty researchers from around the world to joint appointments throughout the nine divisions and research centers. In November 2025, following the $1.8 billion gift, the university announced tuition-free plans for current students in the spring 2026 semester and for new enrollees in the 2026-27 year who were from families earning less than $200,000. The university also purchased the Newseum, located at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., to house its Washington, D.C.-based graduate programs, including the School of Advanced International Studies, which was ranked as the second-best master's degree program in international relations in a 2024 survey.
The Police and The Protest
In 2019, Johns Hopkins sought and received permission from the Maryland General Assembly to create a private police force to patrol in and around the three Baltimore campuses, a proposal that generated opposition from students, faculty, and surrounding community associations. A resolution expressing concerns and raising questions about accountability and oversight of the proposed police department was unanimously passed by the Homewood Faculty Assembly, and protests culminated in a month-long sit-in and building occupation at Garland Hall, the university's administrative building. Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, thousands of faculty, staff, students, and community members petitioned the university to reconsider the department, leading to a pause of at least two years in the development and implementation of the department in June 2020. The finalized memorandum of understanding, issued in December 2022, grants the Johns Hopkins Police Department primary jurisdiction over university-controlled property and adjacent public areas, with officer recruitment and training beginning in spring 2024 and active patrols commencing in summer 2024. The controversy highlighted the tension between the university's desire for security and the community's demand for accountability, a struggle that has continued to shape the relationship between the institution and its neighbors.
The Research Monopoly
Founded in 1883, the Blue Jays men's lacrosse team, which is an affiliate member in the Big Ten Conference, has won 44 national titles, making it one of the most successful college lacrosse programs in the world. The team has won nine NCAA Division I titles in 2007, 2005, 1987, 1985, 1984, 1980, 1979, 1978, and 1974, and 29 USILA championships, and six Intercollegiate Lacross Association titles. The school's most prominent team is its men's lacrosse team, and many of the most influential figures in the early history of the sport played at Hopkins, including the namesakes of the NCAA's Schmeisser Award for defensemen and Jack Turnbull Award for best attackman. The university is also home to the Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame, maintained by US Lacrosse, and the team's success has been a source of pride for the university, with a documentary film tracing the team's numerous historical accomplishments. The university's athletic teams are the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, and even though sable and gold are used for academic robes, the university's athletic colors are spirit blue and black. The team's dominance has been sustained through the development of the sport at the university, with many of the most influential figures in the early history of the sport playing at Hopkins, including the namesakes of the NCAA's Schmeisser Award
The Lacrosse Dynasty
for defensemen and Jack Turnbull Award for best attackman.