began admitting women in 1870, early for a US college; a woman was valedictorian of the Allegheny class of 1875. By the time Ida Tarbell, future journalist, arrived in 1876, nineteen women had attended Allegheny and only two had graduated. Tarbell described Ruter Hall in her writing, "...looking out on the town in the valley, its roofs and towers half hidden by a wealth of trees, and beyond it to a circle of round-breasted hills. Before I left Allegheny I had found a very precious thing in that severe room--the companionship there is in the silent presence of books."
In 1905, Allegheny built Alden Hall as a new and improved preparatory school. Over the decades, the college has grown in size and significance while still maintaining ties to the community.
=== Recent history ===
In 1970, the film Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me based on the Richard Fariña novel was filmed on college grounds.
While the word "Allegheny" is a brand for the college, it is also the name of a county, a river, and a mountain …
