Eastern Connecticut State University has experienced a series of transformations in the one hundred and eighteen years since its establishment as Connecticut's second teacher-training institution.In 1889 the General Assembly passed three acts establishing the Willimantic State Normal School, and on September 3 it opened in modest quarters on the third floor of the Willimantic Savings Institute building at the corner of Bank and Main Streets. Twenty-nine students matriculated under the guidance of Arthur B. Morrill, principal. The first graduation ceremony, in June 1891, sent 22 young women out into the world.
A newly constructed Willimantic State Normal School was dedicated on May 17, 1895, during the tenure of Principal George Perley Phenix. This building was constructed on six acres of land deeded to the State by the Town of Windham in 1890.
In 1907 the General Assembly authorized construction of a second building, a “model school,” for training teachers. The Town of Windham agreed to contribute both the site and part of the $16,666.67 anticipated cost. The facility, known for many years as the Windham Street School, was occupied in January 1910. Fire destroyed the structure in January 1924. Funds were appropriated in 1925 to purchase land and the new laboratory school opened in 1928. It was dedicated in 1958 to Frederick R. Noble, who had served as the principal of the Laboratory School for more than a quarter century; Noble Hall serves as a residence hall today.
In September 1921 the school's first dormitory, named after Principal Henry T. Burr, opened. Shafer Hall, dedicated in November 1946, was built to replace the original Normal School building, which had been lost to fire in 1943. It had served for 48 years as the sole classroom and administrative facility. The campus expanded north of Prospect Street to what is known as “middle campus” in 1946 and to “north campus” after 1963. Eastern's present campus has over 50 buildings on more than 182 acres.
Name changes have accompanied Eastern's evolving mission. In 1937 the Willimantic State Normal School became Willimantic State Teachers College and began offering a four-year curriculum; George H. Shafer, Principal, became the college’s first president. He was succeeded by J. Eugene Smith in 1947, then Searle Charles, who was president of the University from 1966 to 1970. Between 1959 and 1969, a period of expansion and reform, the college name was changed to Willimantic State College and then to Eastern Connecticut State College in 1967, and Eastern Connecticut State University in 1983, during the presidency of Charles R. Webb.
President David G. Carter, Sr., inaugurated in 1988, led Eastern into the 21st century, leaving in 2006 to become Chancellor of the Connecticut State University System. Dr. Elsa Nuñez became Eastern's sixth president on August 4, 2006.