Hiram College is a liberal arts college located in Hiram, Ohio. Founded by Amos Sutton Hayden of the Disciples of Christ Church in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, the school was rechartered under the current name in 1867.

Since the College's first days, it has been nonsectarian and coeducational, and throughout its existence Hiram College has sustained this egalitarian tradition of educating men and women from diverse backgrounds. The institute's original charter was authorized by the state legislature on March 1, 1850, and modified in 1867 to recognize the institution's new collegiate rank when it became Hiram College.

U.S. President James Garfield was a student, instructor, and principal of the institution while it was still the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. Garfield was a classical scholar and taught Greek and Latin, along with such subjects as mathematics and geology. Although he left Hiram in 1861 to take up the Civil War command of Company A of the 42nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a regiment recruited from Hiram, Garfield's name appeared in the Institute's catalogues until 1863.