Editing Temple University (section)

== History ==

Russell Conwell, a Baptist minister, lawyer, and orator, founded Temple University from evening courses he offered to working people seeking education they could not otherwise obtain. His famous lecture "Acres of Diamonds," delivered over 6,000 times, articulated themes of opportunity and self-improvement that shaped Temple's founding mission. The institution received its university charter in 1888 and grew steadily through the early twentieth century, adding professional schools in law, medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy that expanded educational access for Philadelphia's working and immigrant populations.<ref name="conwell">{{cite book |last=Conwell |first=Russell |title=Acres of Diamonds |year=1890 |publisher=Temple University |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

Temple's development as a commuter school serving Philadelphia residents distinguished it from residential universities catering to traditional students. This urban mission made Temple a ladder of mobility for generations of Philadelphians—particularly first-generation college students, immigrants, and minorities—who found educational opportunity that peer institutions did not provide. The university's 1965 designation as a state-related institution brought Commonwealth support that enabled expansion while preserving Temple's distinctive access mission.<ref name="temple"/>