Alliance College
Encyclopedia
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania
Cambridge Springs is a borough in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,363 at the 2000 census.- History :The village of Cambridge was settled in 1822 and was named for the town of Cambridge, Massachusetts...
, offering a special program in Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
languages (cf Slavistics
Slavistics
Slavic studies or Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, Slavic languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was primarily a linguist or philologist who researches Slavistics, a Slavic or Slavonic scholar...
). From 1948 until its closing in 1987, the college was an accredited four-year co-educational liberal arts institution. Student matriculation peaked at 629 in 1968 .
Founded by the Polish National Alliance
Polish National Alliance
The Polish National Alliance is the largest and one of the oldest Polish fraternal organizations in the United States, founded on 15 February 1880 in Philadelphia under the influence of Polish patriot Agaton Giller. Its first president was Juliusz Andrzejkowicz.The PNA founded a number of...
in 1912 "to provide opportunities for Americans of Polish descent to learn about the mother country, its culture, history, and language," it did not just provide its students a college education and book learning about their heritage. Through such extracurricular activities as the Kujawiaki folk dance ensemble and various exchange programs with Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
in Cracow, Poland, students and faculty were able to participate in the culture of their heritage first-hand.
Following the college's closure, the campus was sold to the State of Pennsylvania, which in 1992 opened SCI Cambridge Springs, a minimum-security women's prison, at the site.
Polish Collection
Alliance College's library housed the largest Polish collection (35,000 cataloged and 15,000 uncataloged volumes) in North America. The collection was donated by the PNA to the University of PittsburghUniversity of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
in 1991.
Transcripts
The office of the registrar at Mercyhurst CollegeMercyhurst College
Mercyhurst College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA.-History:On September 20, 1926, Mercyhurst College opened its doors just a few blocks away from the city's southern boundary. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy of the Erie Diocese, who were led by Mother M. Borgia...
in Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
, is the designated agent for storing and retrieving Alliance College transcripts.