Dartmouth was founded in 1769 through efforts of three puritan ministers, the Revs. Eleazar Wheelock, Nathaniel Whittaker, and Samson Occum (an early Native American clergyman) under the royal charter of King George III of Great Britain. Dartmouth's original purpose was to provide for the "Christianization", instruction, and education of "Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land ... and also of English Youth and any others." The ministers raised funds for the college in England through an English trust among whose benefactors and trustees were prominent English statemen, including King George III's Secretary of State for the Colonies in North America, William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, for whom Dartmouth College is named. Dartmouth College is the ninth and last colonial college.

In 1819, Dartmouth College was the subject of the historic Dartmouth College case, in which the State of New Hampshire attempted to amend the College's royal charter to make the school a public university. Daniel Webster, an alumnus of the class of 1801, presented the school's case to the Supreme Court, which found the amendment of Dartmouth's charter to be an illegal impairment of a contract by the state and prevented New Hampshire from taking over the college. Webster concluded his peroration with the words,

Dartmouth's motto is Vox Clamantis in Deserto, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness" (a reference to John the Baptist as well as to the college's location on what was once the frontier of European settlement). The school's color is "Dartmouth Green," a forest green. The sports teams go by the name Big Green, a nineteenth-century nickname The teams' former mascot, the Dartmouth Indian, no longer is used, however, a new mascot has since been devised by the college humorist magazine, the Jack-O-Lantern . The notorious 'Keggy ' is an animated beer keg who makes frequent appearances at college sporting events and has received unofficial approval by the student government. Dartmouth was strictly a men's college until 1972, when women were first admitted as full-time students and undergraduate degree candidates.

At about the same time as coeducation, Dartmouth adopted its unique "D Plan", a schedule of year-round operation that allowed an increase in the enrollment (with the addition of women) without enlarging campus accommodations. The year is divided into four terms corresponding with the seasons; students are required to be in residence for at least one summer during their college career, and spend at least one autumn, winter, or spring term on leave. One wag described it as a way to put 4,000 students into 3,000 beds. Although new dormitories have been built since, the number of students also has increased and the D Plan remains in effect.

Dartmouth is governed by its Board of Trustees, which includes the college President, the state Governor, seven other (Charter) trustees nominated by the board itself, and seven (Alumni) trustees selected by the Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College, a body created in 1854 that represents over 60,000 alumni.

Dartmouth College comprises the undergraduate college of roughly 4,000 students as well as a small graduate school and three other professional institutes, the Dartmouth Medical School (1797), the Thayer School of Engineering (1867), and the Tuck School of Business (1900). With these graduate programs, conventional American usage would accord Dartmouth the label of "university"; but for historical and nostalgic reasons (such as the Dartmouth College case) the school as a point of pride continues to use "Dartmouth College" for the entire institution, rather than just the undergraduate liberal-arts program.

Famous graduates and students include former US Senator Daniel Webster, former Chief Justice of the United States Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Theodor Seuss Geisel (renowned children's author Dr. Seuss), poet Robert Frost, and former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller of New York.

The screenplay for the film Animal House was cowritten by Chris Miller '63 and is based loosely on a series of 1974 fictional stories he wrote about his fraternity days at Dartmouth, including "The Night of the Seven Fires." In a CNN interview, John Landis said the movie was "based on Chris Miller's real fraternity at Dartmouth." In an interview with The Dartmouth, Miller said that at least one incident in the film—one in which a Delta Tau Chi brother skis down the stairs as the band plays "Shout"—occurred at an Alpha Delta party at Dartmouth. The movie was filmed at the University of Oregon.

Presidents of Dartmouth College (the Wheelock Succession)