Do you know what the Connecticut colony's agent to London did? And why don't we know about him?

The residents of New Haven wanted to create an educational institution to train their own ministers - they didn't want to rely on Harvard. To do that, they created meetups.

With donated books, tutors met in different homes to train the future ministers of their colonies. The modern-day "Meetup."  

Jeremiah Dummer, the colony's agent to London, wanted to be part of the action. He donated over 1,000 books to the program. Keep in mind, this was a sizable library for the period - the year was 1701. Additionally, he got Elihu Yale to donate a few books and a piece of art. Elihu also sold some East Indian Company goods at a small price. 

The New Haven residents were so pleased with Dummer's work that they decided to create a permanent campus for the school. A school that many people you know about and see today attended - Anderson Cooper, George H.W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, and some others - just to name a few.

I wonder if these people would have attended the school if it was named after its major donor, Mr. Dummer? Could you imagine Anderson Cooper attending, "Dummer College?

Instead, it was named after an overrated philanthropist, who ended up giving a pittance for the privilege, Mr. Yale.  

Names make a difference in so far that they affect our attitude towards the experience we're in.  

Imagine our attitude if we were to attend "Dummer College?"  

Even if we received the same quality education, we probably wouldn't find much to be proud of.  

If you're creating something worth something, consider the experience your audience will have.  

As for Mr. Dummer, you know what you did, and if you're reading, thank you!

HT to John Steel Gordon of American Heritage for the inspriation.
https://www.americanheritage.com/overrated-underrated-10#