History of
Montgomery College
| On September 16, 1946,
the first Montgomery College classes were held in the evenings at a local high school with
a student body of 186 men and women. Over the past half-century the College has grown to a
multicampus institution with more than 20,000 credit students and 15,000 Continuing
Education students. By the fall of 1950, the College had acquired the buildings and seven acres previously occupied by the Bliss Electrical School. This new home in Takoma Park became the first campus of Montgomery College. A second campus, the Rockville Campus, opened in September 1965. The Germantown Campus opened in September 1975 with classes held temporarily in Seneca Valley High School. Since the fall of 1978, the Germantown Campus has been located in permanent college facilities in Germantown, Maryland. "In sixty years, approximately one half million men and women have attended Montgomery College. They have gone on to make countless contributions to the region, to the country, and to the world. After leaving the College, they have attended four-year colleges and universities where these former students have earned baccalaureates and graduate degrees. Their employment history is as varied as the economy itself. Many have started their own businesses and others have climbed the ladder of success in established private and public corporations. Many Montgomery College students have succeeded as judges, lawyers, physicians, teachers, public servants, and politicians. Some have returned to the college as teachers, administrators, and staff. Others have taken the skills they learned at the College and entered directly the trades and semiprofessional fields so vital to the economy of the region. Some have distinguished themselves in the arts. Others had carved out careers in sports." |
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- Dr. Tom Walker, professor of history at Montgomery College, is the author of Montgomery College History |