The colleges were originally separate institutions – Hobart College for men and William Smith College for women – that shared close bonds and a contiguous campus. Founded as Geneva College in 1822, Hobart College was renamed in honor of its founder John Henry Hobart, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York in 1852. William Smith College was founded in 1908 by Geneva philanthropist and nurseryman William Smith at the suggestion of numerous suffragettes and activists including Elizabeth Smith Miller and her daughter Anne Fitzhugh Miller. In 1943, William Smith College was elevated from its original status as a department of Hobart College to an independent college and the two colleges established a joint corporate identity. They are officially chartered as "Hobart and William Smith Colleges" and informally referred to as "HWS" or "the Colleges". Although united in one corporation with many shared resources and overlapping organizations, they have each retained their traditions.