exhibition, West Point in the Making of America,
18021918, closed on January 11, 2004.
The bicentennial exhibition celebrated 200 years
of the United States Military Academy, and told
about the lives of selected West Point graduates
who as graduates of the Academy became leaders
for the United States Armyand also for American
science, education, engineering, exploration,
public works, business, manufacturing, communication,
West Point: A Brief History
In the early 1800s, West Point was the countrys
finest school of engineering and science. Its
graduates helped advance American commerce and
industry, and many rose to command on both sides
of the Civil War. During the later 1800s, its
curriculum became more narrowly military, its
graduates more likely to make the army a career.
When the United States entered World War I, West
Pointers led many major staff bureaus and field
commands. Decisive American intervention opened
a new era in Americas relation to the worlds
World War I badly disrupted West Point, but also
cleared the way for modernization. World War II
brought more far-reaching changes. West Points
20th-century curriculum embraced new subjects
required of the well-schooled officer. No longer
did cadets follow just one prescribed curriculum.
Those who might become an officer also changed.
After mid-century West Points doors opened
wider, first to African Americans and other minority
men, and then, in 1976, to the formerly excluded
women of America. By the end of the 20th century,
the West Point faculty and corps of cadets were
far more representative of the nation than they
had been in the 19th century.