Franklin and Marshall College

Franklin College was chartered on June 6, 1787, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on the site of a former brewery. It was named for Benjamin Franklin, who donated £200 to the new institution. Founded by four prominent ministers from the German Reformed Church and the Lutheran Church, in conjunction with numerous Philadelphians, the school was established as a German college whose goal was "to preserve our present republican system of government," and "to promote those improvements in the arts and sciences which alone render nations respectable, great and happy." Its first trustees included five signers of the Declaration of Independence, two members of the Constitutional Convention and seven officers of the Revolutionary War.

The school's first courses were taught on July 16, 1787, with instruction taking place in both English and German, making it the first bilingual college in the United States.