Side A: Established under the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Miami University received its charter in 1809 and derived much of its early support from land grants from the original Symmes Purchase. Collegiate instruction began in 1824. Elliot Hall (1828) and Stoddard Hall (1835) are the oldest collegiate residence halls in Ohio. Here William Holmes McGuffey, Miami’s second professor of languages, wrote the first edition of his Readers series; first published in 1836, these famous texts are the most widely read schoolbooks in American history with over 130 million copies printed. Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, was an 1852 graduate. Five national fraternities trace their birth to Miami University.