Rollins College

Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several master's programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins College is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution, and has been independent, nonsectarian, and coeducational from conception. Lucy Cross, founder of the Daytona Institute for Young Women in 1880, first placed the matter of establishing a college in Florida before the Congregational Churches in 1884. In 1885, the church put her on the committee in charge of determining the location of their first college in Florida. Cross is known as the "Mother of Rollins College." Rollins was incorporated, organized, and named in the Lyman Park building in nearby Sanford, Florida, on April 28, 1885, opening for classes in Winter Park on November 4 of that year. It was established by New England Congregationalists who sought to bring their style of liberal arts education to the frontier St. John's basin. A commemorative plaque listing the names of the founders was dedicated 1 March 1954 and is displayed in historic Downtown Sanford. Early benefactors of Rollins College included Chicago businessman Alonzo Rollins (1832-1887), for whom the college is named. Rollins made substantial donations to enable the founding of the college, and was a trustee and its first treasurer. Another early benefactor was Franklin Fairbanks of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Fairbanks was president of the family business, Fairbanks Scales, and was a founder of Winter Park, a donor to Rollins College and a trustee.