The City College of the City University of New York was established by popular referendum in 1847 as the Free Academy of New York. In its earliest years Physics and Chemistry were taught by Robert Ogden Doremus. One of the earliest graduates of the College, Alfred George Compton (Class of 1857) taught aspects of physics for over half a century. By 1906 the Department structure was in place and a dozen courses were offered. By 1939 the Department consisted of twenty-eight faculty and several tutors and included Mark W. Zemansky, Simon Sonkin, Henry Semat, and Robert I. Wolfe. The curriculum included two dozen courses, including Sound and Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy. In 1969 the College was poised to begin construction on its long needed science building and soon would welcome Robert E. Marshak, a physicist of international reputation as its president (1970-1979). The faculty consisted of forty-five physicists holding faculty rank and a number of tutors and included Harry Lustig, Harry Soodak, Arthur Bierman and Erich Erlbach.