The University of Cincinnati (1819) and Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery (1855) have a strong connection over the past 17 decades. Located just a few miles from each other, this urban university and the city’s beautiful garden cemetery share a heritage that includes UC students, faculty, administrators, and benefactors. Our exhibit is a continuing project that documents the relationship between the two institutions through the tombstones of those who made the University of Cincinnati what it is today.
Considered the “Father” of the University of Cincinnati, it was a bequest from McMicken in 1858 that eventually led to the founding of UC in 1870. Subsequently UC absorbed other Cincinnati institutions of higher learning, the oldest being the Cincinnati College that was founded in 1819, thus accounting for the founding date used today by the university.
