$10,000 to support the college as a teacher-training institution. Lyon Gardiner Tyler, son of US President and alumnus John Tyler, became the 17th president of the college following Ewell's retirement. Tyler and his successor J. A. C. Chandler expanded the college.
In 1896, Minnie Braithwaite Jenkins was the first woman to attempt to take classes at William & Mary, although her petition was denied.
=== 20th century ===
In March 1906, the Virginia General Assembly passed an act taking over the college grounds, and the college has remained publicly supported ever since. In 1918, it was one of the first universities in Virginia to admit women. Enrollment increased from 104 in 1889 to 1269 students by 1932.
W. A. R. Goodwin, rector at Bruton Parish Church and professor of biblical literature and religious education at the college, pursued benefactors who could support the restoration of Williamsburg. Goodwin considered Williamsburg "as the original training and testing ground" of the United States. Goodwin persuaded …
