Monroe, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, the Marquis de Lafayette, and other dignitaries.
Freemasonry symbols are prominently displayed throughout the campus, including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings.
=== 19th century ===
During the 19th century, most of the university's students came from the South. As the American Civil War commenced in 1861, many left their studies to join the Confederate States Army. However, the college was still fractured. Professor of anatomy A. Y. P. Garnett left the university to serve as Jefferson Davis' physician, and Robert King Stone stayed in Washington, D.C., serving as physician to Abraham Lincoln. The college was temporarily turned into a Union Army military camp during the Civil War. Poet Walt Whitman worked at this camp while visiting his wounded brother.
In 1873, following the Civil War, Columbian College was renamed Columbian University and moved to an urban downtown location centered on 15th and H streets.
=== 20th century ===
In 1904, Columbian …
