Montgomery College

The Bliss Electrical School was a private, for-profit institution in Takoma Park, Maryland. Established in 1893 and named after its founder Louis D. Bliss. Its first class was on October 15, 1893, in a single room on the third floor of Water Building at the corner of Ninth and Ebbs Street. It was a night class with 26 students, including Thomas E. Robertson, who would later go on to be the United States Commissioner of Patents. The capital investment in the school was $400, representing an advance payment of $20 each from 20 men. In 1895, Charles Francis Jenkins, of motion picture and television fame, enrolled as a student.[1]

W. B. Connelly, a 1904 graduate of Bliss, worked for the General Electric Company at Schenectady, N.Y., where he led the inspection of some two miles of switchboards for the Panama Canal. Before going to GE, Connelly taught at Bliss; his student Skipwith B. Cole would later become dean of the school's faculty.

On November 6, 1908, the Bliss Electrical School building burned down, forcing a move.

On June 3, 1914, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan addressed the school's graduating class in the auditorium of the Calvary Baptist Church.

In 1917, the United States entered World War I. By special permission granted by the War Department, the Bliss Electrical School organized a searchlight company of engineers consisting of 57 men from the 1917 class, headed by Lt. Clyde K. Krisee of the faculty, and under Major John C. Gotwals of the Engineer Corps of the United States Army. This company went overseas with the First Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. These men were used for instruction purposes in a searchlight school in Paris. All returned safely to the United States after the war except one, who was killed in an automobile accident in Paris. The captured German searchlight, which adorns the campus, was presented to the Bliss Electrical School by the War Department as a tribute to the work of the Bliss Searchlight Company of Engineers.

Drafted men from Washington, D.C., install wires for electric lights and motors in the Bliss wiring laboratory in 1918. The school provided an intensive course of training for Army electricians.

At the request of the War Department in 1918, Bliss School prepared an intensive training course in the fundamentals of electricity for drafted men entering the Army. This course was adopted by the War Department, and was the first course used in all the colleges throughout the country, giving instructions along this line to army personnel in the Student Army Training Corps. The school contracted with the War Department to house, feed, and instruct selected groups of soldiers for this course. Beginning June 15, 1918, the school trained 700 soldiers in three detachments. The contract called for training these men at cost. This cost was determined by the auditors in the War Department at $2.00 for the first detachment, at $1.80 for the second detachment, and $1.62 for the third detachment per man per day for housing, feeding, instruction, and supplies. The school was under military control following instruction hence, following the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918. The third and last detachment of the Student Army Training Corps was mustered out and disbanded on December 6, 1918, and the school was released from military control. In 1919, Bliss returned to civilian training. The first edition of the Bliss School textbook, Theoretical and Practical Electrical Engineering, was published in September 1921.

During World War II, Bliss was selected by the U.S. Navy as one of six engineering schools to give Primary School in the Electronics Training Program and it graduated over 3,000 students.[2] Bliss Electrical School's building was sold to Montgomery County for $350,000.[3]

BCC High School where the college started, and which lends its tower to the school crest

The current college was organized in 1946 as "Montgomery Junior College," with its campus located at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.[4] Its first dean was Hugh G. Price.[5][6] The first day of class was held on September 16, 1946.[4] During its first school year, it had about 175 students.[4]

In 1950, the college moved to Takoma Park, absorbing the Bliss Electrical School[7][3] Previously, Montgomery Junior College could only hold evening classes because the high school used the building for its classes during the day, but with the acquisition of Bliss Electrical School's building, Montgomery Junior College began holding daytime classes as well.[8][9] The first day of classes at the new location began on October 2, 1950.[9] At the time, it was segregated, with an enrollment of over 500 students. The newly established Carver Junior College in Rockville was expected to have 40 African-Americans enrolled, but only 19 managed to show up, due both to problems in finding transportation to school and the cost of tuition.[10]

The Rockville campus of Montgomery College opened in September 1965,[11] and the Germantown campus opened in early 1970s, occupying its present permanent site since 1978. Montgomery College also offers learning opportunities through its extensive Workforce Development and Continuing education programs.

In 2010, DeRionne Pollard assumed leadership of Montgomery College, and its three campuses. She spearheaded the development of a new Montgomery College mission and strategic plan. She has partnered actively with Montgomery County Public Schools and the universities at Shady Grove in the creation of Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES), a support program designed to help disadvantaged students transition from high school to college completion. The program now has 1,700 students enrolled. Montgomery College is also a member of Achieving the Dream network, a non-governmental reform movement for student success at community colleges.

In 2016, NBC 4 investigated frivolous spending claims made by students and staff against Pollard. NBC 4 had received letters from staff throughout the summer asking the news organization to investigate the president.[12] In response, the school released a statement supporting Pollard and claiming that none of the charges were unjustified, and that there was no inappropriate use of college funds. The matter was dropped.

The Takoma Park campus began expanding into neighboring city of Silver Spring with the opening of a new Health Sciences Center in January 2004. The campus expansion in Silver Spring included the addition of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Arts Center which opened in fall 2007. The building houses the campus visual arts programs and the School of Art + Design, formerly the Maryland College of Art and Design, which merged with Montgomery College in September 2004. To reflect the campus's expansion into Silver Spring, the Board of Trustees renamed the Takoma Park campus as the "Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus" in June 2005.[13] The Cultural Arts Center, which contains two theaters, opened in 2009.[14]

Montgomery College Rockville Campus

In 2008, Montgomery College named its Rockville Campus gallery the Sarah Silberman Art Gallery. In addition to donating $500,000 for its complete renovation, Sarah Silberman funded two endowed scholarships in ceramics and sculpture.[15][16][17] In 2011, Montgomery College built its new Science Center on the Rockville Campus which features 29 new laboratories. In January 2017, the new North Garage with over 900 covered parking spaces was opened on the Rockville campus.

Montgomery College, Germantown campus

In 2011, the Montgomery College Germantown Campus started to expand with the addition of the Life Sciences Park which features the new Holy Cross Germantown Hospital. In 2014, the Germantown Campus add a new Bioscience Education Center which features wet labs, a detached greenhouse complex, and a meeting/conference center.

The Montgomery College Libraries system has a location at each campus.

The president of Montgomery College oversees the operations of three academic campuses of Montgomery College in Maryland.[20]

• Hugh G. Price (1948–1953)
• Donald E. Deyo (1953–1965)
• George A. Hodson (1965–1966)
• William C. Strasser (1966–1979)
• Robert E. Parilla (1979–1998)
• Charlene R. Nunley (1998–2007)
• Brian K. Johnson (2007–2009)
• Hercules Pinkney (2009–2010, acting)
• DeRionne P. Pollard (2010–2021)
• Charlene Mickens Dukes (2021–2022, interim)
• Jermaine F. Williams (2022–present)

Each of Montgomery College's three campuses has its own student-run newspaper: The Globe (Germantown),[29] The Advocate (Rockville),[30] and The Excalibur (Takoma Park/Silver Spring).[31]

At its Rockville campus, the college also operates eRadio WMCR, a student-run online radio station,[32] and the award winning[33] MCTV, a 24/7 cable channel that produces programming for and about the college community.[34]

The Knights (Rockville Campus) women's tennis team won the NJCAA Division III National Championship in 2001 and again in 2006.[38] Montgomery College-Rockville golfer Brent Davis won the NJCAA Division III Individual Championship in 2005 with a score of 288.[39]

The Raptors women's track and field team won back to back NJCAA Division III National Championships in 2015 and 2016.[40] The Raptors men's track and field team won back to back to back NJCAA Division III National Championships in 2014, 2015, and 2016.[41]