The history of Union Theological Seminary in New York, which was established in 1836 to train primarily Presbyterian ministerial students in the area, is reported. The institution has since evolved into a nondenominational graduate school of theology in the Christian tradition, and in recent decades has trained some students from other religions. Attention is directed to the seminary's growth, influence, and struggles during its century and a half, along with the careers of many of the important persons at the college, including Edward Robinson, Philip Schaff, Charles A. Briggs, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Henry Sloane Coffin. Also considered are a number of controversies that have arisen because of the position the seminary has taken on certain theological and social issues. These issues include support of Briggs during his trials for heresy between 1891 and 1893 and the seminary's relations with Columbia University, its Morningside Heights neighbor, during the university's turbulent 1968 rebellions. It is noted that Union Theological Seminary played an important role in the rise of the ecumenical movement, beginning with the Briggs trials. It also has been important to religious and educational history. (SW)