Timeline of History: 1900-1949

1900
Size of the Corps of Cadets is 481.

Chapel of Most Holy Trinity dedicated.

1901
Act of Congress forbids hazing.

1902
President Theodore Roosevelt is the guest of honor at the Military Academy Centennial. Herbert S. Shipman, USMA Chaplain, writes "The Corps," the Academy’s inspiring anthem, for the Centennial.

1903
West Point Army Mess (the Officers’ Club) completed.

1905
Boxing and wrestling added to the physical education curriculum.

1906
For the first time, all four classes participate in physical training instruction.

1907
Bugle Notes, the cadet handbook, first published as a Y.M.C.A. project.

1908
North Barracks completed in Gothic style.

1909
Constitution Island donated to the government (Military Academy) by Mrs. Russell Sage and Miss Anna B. Warner.

Administration Building completed.

1910
Cadet Chapel completed.

East Gymnasium completed.

1911
Riding Hall completed.

"Alma Mater" first sung as hymn.

1913
East Academic Building completed. It is later renamed Bartlett Hall.

1916
Washington Monument completed.

Authorized strength of the Corps increases to 1,332.

1917-1918
Academy graduates serve as 34 of the 38 Corps and Division Commanders in the First World War.

Course of instruction compresses to produce officers more rapidly for the war.

1919
French Cadet Monument erected. Presented by the cadets of L’Ecole Polytechnique.

1919-1922
General MacArthur assumes Superintendency. Major Robert M. Danford, Commandant of Cadets, introduces a course on leadership.

1924
Michie Stadium completed.

1926
Government-owned Hotel Thayer completed.

1929
Washington Hall completed.

1931
New Grant Hall completed on site of a previous Grant Hall. (Cadet Mess Hall.)

1933
Act of Congress authorizes awarding the Bachelor of Science degree to Academy graduates.

1933-1942
Academy acquires additional territory to the west and south for tactical military training.

1939
Doubleday Field named in honor of Major General Abner Doubleday, USMA 1842, who is often called the "father of baseball."

1941
German language study introduced.

1941-1945
Academy graduates, including Generals Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, and Patton lead Allies to victory in World War II.

1942
Air Corps branch instruction instituted, requiring division of classes into two groups: Air and Ground Cadets.

1943
Three year course of instruction adapted due to World War II.

1944-1946
Glory days of Army football under Coach Earl H. "Red" Blaik and Heisman Trophy winners "Doc" Blanchard and Glenn Davis.

1945
The Tactical Training and Firing Center used for the summer training of cadets named Camp Buckner in honor of LTG Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., Class of 1908, killed at Okinawa.

Russian language study introduced.

1946
Under Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, Superintendent, curriculum is revised and modernized.

1947
New instructors selected in advance of actual assignment to West Point in order to attend a civilian university for graduate work.

1950 THROUGH Present >>>>