English Department records

The English Department of The George Washington University is responsible for undergraduate English requirements and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees.

English and Literature have always been a part of the curriculum from Columbian College's founding in 1821 to the present. Requisites for admission in 1822 included an acquaintance with English grammar and arithmetic, a thorough knowledge of geography, and the ability to read and write Latin. The prospective student had to be able to translate, with a high degree of competence, Caesar's Commentaries, and the works of Virgil, Sallust, select orations of Cicero, and the New Testament in Greek. A candidate for advanced standing from another college had to pass examinations in all subjects previously taken and show that he left the other institution in good standing. No one was admitted without satisfactory credentials of good moral character.

Jenny McKean Moore (1923-1973) was a writer and social activist in Washington, D.C. After her passing in 1973, the Jenny McKean Moore Fund was established at the George Washington University. Formed in 1976 with an endowment left by Jenny McKean Moore, the purpose of the fund is to choose a candidate to teach four semester long creative writing workshops at George Washington University as the Jenny McKean Moore Writer-In-Residence.