History
Los Angeles was a rough-and-tumble frontier town in the early 1870s, when a group of public-spirited citizens led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney first dreamed of establishing a university in the region. It took nearly a decade for this vision to become a reality, but in 1879 Widney formed a board of trustees and secured a donation of 308 lots of land from three prominent members of the community — Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturist; former California governor John G. Downey, an Irish-Catholic pharmacist and businessman; and Isaias W. Hellman, a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist. The gift provided land for a campus as well as a source of endowment, the seeds of financial support for the nascent institution.

When USC first opened its doors to 53 students and 10 teachers in 1880, the “city” still lacked paved streets, electric lights, telephones, and a reliable fire alarm system. Today, USC is home to more than 31,000 students and 4,300 faculty, and is located at the heart of one of the biggest metropolises in the world.

Explore the timeline below to discover highlights in the history of the oldest independent teaching and research university in the West. For a look at USC's history through a variety of media and exhibits, check out the university's new 125th Anniversary site.

Timeline of Key Events and Highlights in USC’s History
1870s
Citizens in the frontier town of Los Angeles propose the concept of an institution of higher education.

1879
Judge Robert Maclay Widney forms a board of trustees and secures a 308-lot land donation from three community leaders — Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturist; former California governor John G. Downey, an Irish-Catholic pharmacist and businessman; and Isaias W. Hellman, a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist.

1880
USC formally opens, with 53 students and 10 faculty. Marion McKinley Bovard is named the university’s first president. A college of liberal arts, a university band, and a debate team are established.

1881
USC’s first dormitory, Hodge Hall, is opened.

1884
USC’s school of music is founded. USC holds its first commencement, with a graduating class of three students (one woman and two men).

1885
USC’s College of Medicine, the first in Southern California, is established. Eight alumni form USC’s first alumni association.

1887
USC’s fine arts school opens off campus in Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco.

1888
USC plays its first football game and trounces the opponent 16–0.

1892
Dr. Joseph P. Widney (brother of Robert Maclay Widney, and first dean of USC’s medical school) becomes USC’s second president. USC’s first student newspaper, a four-page weekly called the Rostrum, appears.

1895
Rev. George W. White becomes USC’s third president. USC adopts cardinal and gold as its official colors.

1896
USC’s law school begins when a group of apprentices form a voluntary association to study under a prominent attorney.

1897
USC begins offering courses in dentistry.

1902
USC’s second school newspaper, the monthly Cardinal, is published.

1903
George Finley Bovard (brother of Marion McKinley Bovard) becomes USC’s fourth president.

1904
USC’s first Olympic athlete, Emil Breitkreutz (’06), brings home a bronze medal for the 800 meters.

1905
The USC School of Pharmacy opens, as the first in Southern California.

1906
The USC Department of Physics offers engineering courses — the precursor to USC’s College of Engineering (established in 1925).

1909
USC’s Department of Education opens, to attain full school status nine years later.

1911
President William Howard Taft visits the USC campus.

1912
Los Angeles Times sportswriter Owen R. Bird dubs USC’s spirited athletic team the “Trojans.” Greek letter societies are established. The first edition of the Daily Trojan is published.

1914
A group of international students founds the Cosmopolitan Club at USC to “promote friendship” among students from Asia, Latin America and Europe.

1915
Ten-year-old Teresa Van Grove enrolls at USC, making her the youngest Trojan.

1918
Mrs. Amy Winship, a girlhood friend of Abraham Lincoln, attends USC at age 87 and is fondly nicknamed “the oldest co-ed in the world.”

1919
USC’s Department of Architecture, the first program of its kind in Southern California, opens.

1920
The USC School of Social Work is established. USC opens the College of Commerce and Business Administration, the first business school in Southern California.

1921
Rufus B. von KleinSmid, affectionately known as “Dr. Von,” becomes USC’s fifth president.

1922
USC dental student Milo Sweet composes the music for USC’s official fight song, “Fight On,” as an entry in a Trojan Spirit contest. The first attempt at a sequential card stunt for a football crowd is made under the direction of Lindley Bothwell in the stands on USC’s Bovard Field.

1923
The first Rose Bowl game is played in the present Pasadena location, with USC winning against Penn State 14 –3. The USC Trojans play in the first varsity football game ever held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, beating Pomona College 23–7.

1924
USC establishes the country’s first school of international relations and plays its first baseball game. USC’s first formal observance of homecoming is held.

1925
The USC College of Engineering is formed.

1927
USC confers its first Ph.D. to David Welty Lefever in the School of Education.

1929
The USC School of Public Administration opens. USC’s Department of Cinema — the country’s first filmmaking program — is established.

1930
The Trojan Shrine is unveiled in celebration of USC’s 50th anniversary. With more than 700 foreign students (10 percent of the student body), USC ranks third in the United States in international enrollment.

1935
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visits the USC campus and receives an honorary doctor of laws degree.

1937
Gil Kuhn becomes the first Trojan football player to be drafted into the pros.

1939
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is released, featuring USC’s Mudd Hall of Philosophy in the famous belltower scenes.

1941
The tradition of passing the bell between rival schools is established when six pranksters from USC’s Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity abscond with UCLA’s liberty bell after the opening game of the football season.

1942
USC’s Department of Occupational Therapy opens as one of the first programs of its kind in the country.

1943
In the midst of World War II, some 2,000 military trainees add to crowded conditions on campus.

1945
USC’s Departments of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy are established. The USC Department of Drama is founded.

1946
KUSC goes on the air. A feisty stray dog, nicknamed George Tirebiter, is officially named as USC’s student body mascot.

1947
Fred D. Fagg Jr. becomes USC’s sixth president.

1948
Troy Camp is founded.

1952
USC’s Health Sciences Campus opens. USC launches the first doctoral program in social work in the western United States. USC’s Institute for Safety and Systems Management is the first academic unit in the country to offer degree programs in safety, human factors and systems management.

1954
Tommy Trojan debuts, with rider Art Gontier. USC’s first Songfest is held at the Greek Theater.

1957
USC’s on-campus pre-game picnics begin.

1958
Dr. Norman Topping becomes USC’s seventh president.

1960
Then U.S. senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Vice President Richard Milhous Nixon speak at USC.

1961
President Topping announces the “Master Plan for Enterprise and Excellence in Education,” an academic blueprint that doubles the endowment, adds 30 new buildings to the Health Sciences and University Park campuses, and helps the school gain election to the Association of American Universities.

1965
The USC School of Dentistry founds its mobile dental clinic, now the oldest and most extensive self-contained facility of its kind.

1966
The Gamble House is deeded to the City of Pasadena in a joint agreement with the USC School of Architecture.

1970
Historian John R. Hubbard is elected as USC’s eighth president. President Emeritus Norman Topping is elected as USC’s second chancellor.

1971
The USC Annenberg School for Communication is established.

1972
USC’s Joint Academic Project (JEP) — one of the oldest service-learning programs in the United States — is launched.

1974
The USC School of Urban and Regional Planning is founded. USC’s baseball team wins its fifth straight NCAA title — to date still an unmatched record.

1975
USC’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology is founded, the first of its kind in the country.

1976
USC launches its “Toward Century II” fundraising campaign, bringing in over $309 million in five years.

1977
U.S. President Gerald Ford sends USC President Hubbard an autographed $10 bill to satisfy their wager regarding the outcome of the Rose Bowl game, in which USC defeated Michigan.

1979
Fleetwood Mac invites the Trojan Marching Band to perform on the title song for the album “Tusk,” which becomes the band’s first platinum album.

1980
USC celebrates its centennial, and James H. Zumberge becomes the university’s ninth president.

1981
vThe Doheny Memorial Library celebrates acquisition of its 2 millionth volume.

1984
The XXIIIrd Olympiad comes to Los Angeles, and University Park campus is the site of the largest Olympic Village. U.S. President Ronald Reagan visits USC before officially opening the Olympic Games.

1987
With the opening of the Carl’s Jr. restaurant on campus, USC becomes the first American institution of higher education to own and operate a fast-foot franchise.

1990
President Zumberge announces that “The Campaign for USC” has raised $641.6 million and added more than a dozen new buildings.

1991
Steven B. Sample becomes USC’s tenth and present president.

1993
Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg gives $120 million to create the USC Annenberg Center for Communication.

1994
USC Professor George Olah wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. USC’s Good Neighbors Campaign is inaugurated.

1998
Alfred Mann gives $112.5 million to establish the USC Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering. The schools of public administration and urban planning are merged to form the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.

1999
USC’s medical school receives a $110 million gift and is renamed the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Time magazine and the Princeton Review name USC as “College of the Year 2000” in recognition of its outstanding community service.

2001
USC’s Robert Zemeckis Center opens as the country’s first and only fully digital filmmaking training facility.

2002
With the close of the “Building on Excellence” campaign, USC sets a new record in higher education by conducting the most successful fundraising effort ever, raising $2.85 billion in nine years.

2003
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security selects USC as its first Homeland Security Center of Excellence.

2004
The Los Angeles City Council dubs January 21 “USC Trojans’ Day in L.A.” to honor the university’s 2003 football, women’s volleyball, and men’s water polo teams.

Visit USC