What is with the name “Case Western Reserve University”
Comments heard about the name “Case Western Reserve”:
“My son19 did not like the name Case Western Reserve, said it sounds like cheap wine LOL.”
or
“Is Case Western Reserve a military School?” (e.g. like Army Reserves)
Case Western Reserve University was founded when the Case Institute of Technology merged with Western Reserve College in 1967.
What is a Western Reserve?
The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms of its charter by King Charles II.
Connecticut relinquished claim to some of its western lands to the United States in 1786 following the American Revolutionary War and preceding the 1787 establishment of the Northwest Territory. Despite ceding sovereignty to the United States, Connecticut retained ownership of the eastern portion of its cession, south of Lake Erie. It sold much of this “Western Reserve” to a group of speculators who operated as the Connecticut Land Company; they sold it in portions for development by new settlers. The phrase Western Reserve is preserved in numerous institutional names in Ohio, such as Western Reserve Academy and Case Western Reserve University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Western_Reserve
College Legend:
The tower of Amasa Stone Chapel, completed in 1911 on the Western Reserve Campus, is adorned on three sides with smiling angels. The west side, however, features a menacing gargoyle, sparking what is probably the most persistent legend concerning the campus. As the story goes, the trustees of Western Reserve University decided to put the gargoyle on the side of the chapel facing the campus of Case School of Applied Science. Their reason for doing so, it is said, was their belief that Leonard Case Jr., who founded Case School, was an atheist.
The little blue book that Case freshman receive has this history about Western Reserve U. which was founded in 1824. and Case Institute of Tech which was founded in 1880. The famous Michelson and Morley physics experiment happened in the basement of Western Reserve University with two scientists, one from each institution:
https://case.edu/ech/articles/m/michelson-morley-experiment