Historic Philadelphia

Temple University was officially created in
1907 when Philadelphia Dental College and the
related Garretson Hospital merged with Temple
and together with Samaritan Hospital formed
the newly-named university.
Throughout the twentieth century Temple
continued to grow. By 1922 the University
consisted of twelve schools and colleges,
staffed by a faculty of approximately four
hundred. Students that year totalled over
eight thousand.
The University’s growing academic offerings
were accompanied by the physical growth of
the campus. The early part of the century saw
the construction of such Temple landmarks
as Conwell Hall, Carnell Hall, the ornate
neo-Gothic Mitten Hall, and Sullivan Hall, the
dedication of which was attended by then U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Temple’s Main Campus remained mostly
confined to one block of Broad Street between
Montgomery Avenue and Norris Street until the
1960s and ’70s when, fueled by its designation
in 1965 as a state-related university and the
growing need for a college-educated workforce,
the University underwent a period of dramatic
growth. This time saw the construction of
nearly half the buildings that make up Temple’s
present ninety-four-acre Main Campus.
In addition to the expansion of the Main
Campus, Temple has over the years added the
Tyler School of Art, located in Elkins Park,
and campuses in Center City, the Philadelphia
suburbs of Ambler and Fort Washington, as
well as Harrisburg.
Internationally, Temple has campuses in
Rome, London, and Tokyo and programs of
study in numerous countries, including
Spain, France, Israel, China, and Ghana.
Temple University Hospital has also seen
amazing growth throughout the years. The
hospital’s doctors now treat more than 20,000
inpatients, 150,000 outpatients, and 37,000
emergency room patients annually.
It has been ranked one of the nation’s top
hospitals for specialties including cardiology,
respiratory disorders and cancer care by U.S.
News and World Report. New facilities include
the Children’s Medical Center and the
affiliated Shriners Hospital for Children.
Today, Temple is one of only eighty-nine
Carnegie-Research I institutions in the nation,
offering a full range of degree programs, from
baccalaureate to doctoral. The University
employs twenty-six hundred full-time and
part-time faculty and has sixteen schools and
colleges, offering bachelor’s degrees in 125
fields, master’s degrees in 94, and doctoral
degrees in 49. There are four professional
schools: law, medicine, dentistry, and
podiatric medicine.
Temple has also contributed greatly to
Philadelphia’s sports history. The football
team played in the first Sugar Bowl in 1935.
The men’s basketball team captured the
National Invitational Tournament crown in
1969 and has made twelve straight trips to the
NCAA Tournament under legendary coach
John Chaney.
With nearly one hundred thousand alumni
living and working in the Philadelphia region,
Temple will continue to be as much a part
of the city’s future as it has been a part of
its past.
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The new Liacouras Center is a multipurpose
recreation and convocation complex that
is home to the renowned Temple
basketball teams.
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