Origin: 1696
Colleges and universities had existed in England for centuries, but the founding of Harvard College in 1636 opened the way for American innovations in higher education. We Americans were apparently the first to speak of alumnus of an alma mater. Both of these terms were used affectionately by Samuel Sewall, Harvard Class of 1671, in his diary for October 12, 1696. Concerning a meeting at the college that day, he wrote, "Lt. Govr. complemented the President &c., for all the respect to him, acknowldg'd his obligation and promis'd his Interposition for them as become such an Alumnus to such an Alma Mater: directed and desired the Presdt. and fellows to go on; directed and enjoined the students to obedience." The lieutenant governor, William Stoughton, was a member of the Harvard Class of 1650, and on the occasion reported by Sewall he was helping the college renew its charter.
In a later century, Americans were among the first to open higher education to women and were the first to use the feminine alumna, plural alumnae (contrasting with masculine alumni), for women graduates. An 1882 book on women's education refers to "the Alumnae and Alumni of Oberlin," the first college that was coeducational (1881, another American word).
