University Of Massachusetts Dartmouth Dartmouth USA 2024

While many of us today recognize UMass Dartmouth as part of Massachusetts’s state university system located in the SouthCoast, our history begins in 1895, in the thriving mill cities of New Bedford and Fall River. There, 125 years ago, UMassD’s tradition of educating students for successful careers and adapting to the ever-changing needs of the future of work originated.

In the 1800s, the textile industry was booming, particularly in Fall River and New Bedford. In order to create a local skilled labor pool of designers, textile chemists, and mill managers, mill owners petitioned the legislature to open state-funded textile schools. Chapter 47 of the Acts of 1895 enabled the mayor of any city in the Commonwealth with 450,000 or more spindles in operation to file for incorporation of a textile school. Three were schools were chartered: in Fall River, New Bedford, and Lowell.

Our predecessor institutions New Bedford Textile School and Bradford Durfee Textile School created a curriculum that served the needs of the textile industry. Three-year diplomas were granted in general textile manufacturing, textiles design, chemistry, and knit goods manufacturing, as well as a two-year certificate in textile technology. Evening classes allowed mill workers to expand their skills and knowledge. During the 1920s and 1930s the curriculum at the New Bedford Textile School expanded to include knitting technology, textile chemistry, dyeing and finishing, and fashion and textile design. Changes to the textile industry introduced courses in economics and merchandising in the 1940s.

The decline of the New England textile industry and the end of World War II forced the schools to explore new options and forge new identities. To take advantage of the GI Bill, they requested permission to grant four-year degrees and expanded the curriculum with engineering, chemistry, and business administration courses in response to a growing need for broader educational opportunities in southeastern Massachusetts. They became multipurpose institutions, preparing engineers, health care workers, teachers, and business leaders for the workforce, and were now known as New Bedford Institute of Technology and Bradford Durfee Technical Institute.