1882
Rev. L. T. (Leander Trowbridge) Chamberlain
Chamberlain was pastor of the Broadway Congregational Church in Norwich, Conn. from 1876 to 1883. The ceremony closed the first year of the new agricultural school, and as none of the students had completed the requirements, no diplomas were awarded. After the ceremony, students conducted laboratory practice demonstrations.
1883
J. M. Hubbard
Hubbard, of Middletown, was a trustee of the school/college from 1881 to 1896. This ceremony was held in the Storrs Congregational Church. As noted on the Undergraduate Ceremony Speakers main page, six students received their two-year certificates in this, the first graduating class.
1884
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Gov. Thomas M. Waller
This ceremony was held in an oak grove in an area behind what is now Holcomb Hall. Waller (1840 - 1924), was governor from 1883 to 1885. Beecher, (1813 - 1887), brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a clergyman and abolitionist and one of the most popular preachers of his day. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, he became the pastor of the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn, New York, in 1847. He was a close friend of the Storrs brothers.
1885
Gov. Henry B. Harrison, William E. Simonds
Harrison (1821 - 1901), a Republican from New Haven, was governor from 1885 - 1887. Simonds was a trustee from Canton who served from 1886 to 1903. He also headed a state commission that reported favorably on the school in 1885.
1886
Gen. Stewart L. Woodward, John E. Russell
Woodward was later U.S. Minister to Spain during the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898. No information is available about John E. Russell.
1887
E.H. Hyde, William E. Simonds
Ephraim H. Hyde, of Stafford, was a trustee from 1881-1899, and served many years in the state General Assembly and was lieutenant governor of Connecticut from 1867-68. Simonds was a trustee from Canton, who also spoke at two commencement ceremonies in the 1890s.
1888
Gov. Phineas C. Lounsbury, Wilbur O. Atwater
Lounsbury, a Republican from Ridgefield, served one term as governor, from 1887-1889. Atwater was director of the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station.
1889
J. M. Hubbard, Henry C. Miles, Theodore S. Gold, J. H. Hale
The program for 1889 lists all four men, all trustees of the school, as giving addresses. Gold was instrumental in the creation of Storrs Agricultural School.
Information on the History of Commencement pages was researched and compiled by Mark J. Roy