called the Manchester, stables (1848) (Memorial Hall was built in 1948 on this site), and one from 1901, which now serves as Canterbury Hall. The former PCI campus in Rhode Island was purchased in 1920 by William S. Holland, who moved his Watchman Institute there in 1923. He served African-American youths at that location for decades.
The trustees of the college were incorporated by the state in 1920, by which time its liberal arts identity had been "quite firmly established." It did not gain Bachelor of Arts degree-granting power from the commonwealth for another decade, after the curriculum and faculty were established. On January 28, 1930, President Floyd W. Nease appealed directly to the General Court of Massachusetts for degree-granting authority, defending ed his petition before the Joint Committee on Education and the state House and Senate. He cited financial records, campus improvement plans, and prominent community leaders; the bill passed in both houses and was signed by Governor Frank G. Allen on …
