New Book Offers a Historical View of Adelphi University

A History of Adelphi University Released

“In many ways, the history of a school is the collective biography of those involved with it.”
Prologue, A History of Adelphi University (Pearson) released March 2015

In recent months, much has been reported about the state of higher education. Media stories have discussed how schools need to adapt to changing needs, demographics, technologies, and market demands. In her latest book, A History of Adelphi University (Pearson), Jennifer Fleischner, Ph.D., acclaimed author (Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave) and professor in the English department at Adelphi University, suggests that Adelphi has long been an institution of dynamic change.

In her new book released this month, Dr. Fleischner chronicles the University from its founding in 1863 in Brooklyn as the Adelphi Academy through today as a modern world-class university under the leadership of President Robert A. Scott. Through chapters devoted to the tenures of Adelphi’s successive presidents, the work depicts the University’s periods of growth and tension and presents a historically sweeping and vibrant view of changes at Adelphi within the context of the broader changes in American higher education and society at large.

The last history of the University was written in 1946 by historian and former Adelphi history faculty member Chester Barrows. In 2013, Dr. Scott commissioned the new work to capture the firsthand accounts of alumni, faculty, staff, and regional leaders. Dr. Scott tapped Dr. Fleischner to undertake this work due in part to her acclaimed work, Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly, and the precedent of having the University’s history chronicled by a member of its faculty.

“As someone who has spent most of his career in higher education, I understand how colleges and universities have always adapted to the times,” Dr. Scott said. “Dr. Fleischner has done an extraordinary job of offering the reader a carefully researched and exceptionally crafted view of how Adelphi University has evolved. Her work offers alumni, faculty, students, and friends, as well as future researchers, an informed and objective view of the Adelphi story. I am pleased to add this book to our historical account and am grateful to Dr. Fleischner for her outstanding work.”

Dr. Fleischner is the author of books and articles about American literature, women, and slavery, as well as an historical novel, Nobody’s Boy, set in antebellum St. Louis. She has taught at Adelphi University since 2002.

The hardcover book is available through the Adelphi University bookstore and will be available as an e-book in April.