When the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was founded in 1837, knowledge of American History was required for admission. At this time, in the three year course of study at the Seminary, students were required to take courses in history for two years. First year, or Junior Class students, took a survey of ancient and modern times. Last year, or Senior Class, students, studied ecclesiastical history. In the 1884/1885 Course Bulletin, individual courses of study were first listed. History was among these. The History Department existed from 1884/1885 until the 1895/1896 academic year. During these years, it existed concurrently with the Constitution of the United States, Civil Government, Civic and Political Economy, and Political Economy Departments. In the 1897/1898 academic year, there existed two departments in the field of history, the medieval History Department and the Constitutional History and Political Economy Department. In 1898/1899, there were two separate departments, the History Department and the Political Economy Department. In the 1903/1904 academic year, these two departments merged to form the History and Political Science Department. The following year, the department became the History Department. At this time, the History Department consisted of two distinct areas of study, one being European History and the other being American History, Political Economy, and Sociology. In 1905, a separate Economics Department was formed. Between 1901 and 1911, the department experienced tremendous growth. While the student body grew from 550 to 754 students, the staff of the History Department doubled from 3 to 6 members. The number of courses offered almost doubled, increasing from 11 to 18. This was despite the removal of the study of economics from the department in 1905. In 1916/1917, the department became the History and Political Science Department. At this time, the general aim of the department was to help students gain a love of history for its own sake and the knowledge of great persons, movements, and institutions of history essential to any education. The faculty also sought to teach students to understand that generalizations regarding the course of society, past or present, to be of value must be based on patient study of history and the exercise of disciplined judgment. The History and Political Science Department lasted as a unified department until the 1938/1939 academic year. The following year, the Political Science Department was formed, leaving the History Department as an independent entity. The History Department has remained since the 1939/1940 academic year.