USA > Iowa > An illustrated history of the state of Iowa, being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875; > Part 28
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The course of study is ample, and embraces the following branches: Natural philosophy, chemistry, botany, horticulture, fruit growing, forestry, animal and vegetable anatomy, geology, mineralogy, meteorology, entomology, zoology, the veterinary art, plane mensuration, leveling, surveying, bookkeeping, and such mechanical arts as are directly connected with agriculture ; also such other studies as the trustees may from time to time prescribe not inconsistent with the purpose of the institution.
The resources of the institutions have been summed up as follows : " Funds arising from the sale and lease of lands and interest thereon, five sections in Jasper county, made available by act of congress July 11, 1862, and 240,000 acres granted by act of congress July 2, 1862, for the endowment of schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts. In 1862 and '63, 195,000 acres of these lands were located by the commissioner, Peter
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Melendy, in the Fort Dodge, Sioux City and Des Moines districts, and since then other portions of these lands have been located by other commissioners; so that the amount patented to the state, and under the management of the board of trustees, is sufficlent to create an adequate fund for the support of the agricultural college."
In 1839 the territorial legislature of Iowa took steps to estab- lish a state prison and appropriated $20,000 for that purpose. The act " provided for a board of directors of three persons elected by joint ballot of both houses of the legislature, who should direct the building of the penitentiary, which should be located within one mile of the public square, in the town of Fort Madison, Lee county, on condition that the citizens of Fort Madi- son should deed to the directors a portion of land suitable for a site, and assign them by contract a spring or stream of water for the use of the penitentiary. To the directors were also given the power of appointing the warden ; the latter to appoint his own assistants.
"The first directors appointed were John S. David and John Claypole. They made their first report to the legislative council November 9, 1839. The citizens of the town of Fort Madison had executed a deed conveying ten acres of land for the building site. Amos Ladd was appointed superintendent of the building June 5, 1839. The building was designed of sufficient capacity to contain one hundred and thirty-eight convicts, and estimated to cost $55,933.90. It was begun on the 9th of July, 1839 ; the main building and warden's house were completed in the fall of 1841. Other additions were made from time to time till the build- ing and arrangements were all complete according to the plan of the directors. It has also answered the purpose of the state as a penitentiary for more than thirty years, and during that period may items of practical experience in prison management have been gained."
There is a second or additional penetentiary or state prison at Anamosa, Jones county. This institution was provided for by act of the legislature in 1872, when the assembly appointed William Ure, Foster L. Downing and Martin Heisey, a board of commissioners to locate and provide for the erection and control
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of an additional penitentiary for the state of Iowa. The board met on the 4th of June at Anamosa, Jones county, and selected a site donated by the citizens within the corporate limits of that city. L. W. Foster & Co., arhitects, of Des Moines, were employed by the board to furnish drawings and specifications. The work on the building was commenced in September, 1872, and is now nearly completed, or so far completed as to accommodate nearly one hundred convicts. The building when completed, will be a fine structure. "The building, including the warden's house, which projects 71 feet from the main prison buildings, with its extended wings on either side, will be 434 feet in length, and at the highest point 85 feet in height, the cell rooms being 42 feet high. In front, upon the street, will be a neat iron fence inclosing three acres of ground and extending the whole length of the front. This inclosure will be filled with ornamental trees, shrubbery, flower beds and walks. The warden's house, prison cells, guards' hall, entrance hall to the dining room are the shape a cross, and a guard standing in the center of this hall can see to the extremity of either wing."
All of the buildings are of stone, or will be when completed. The plan adopted by the board consists of two cell wings extend- ing parallel with the front, each 52 by 192 feet, connected by a guards' hall, 50 by 50 feet. There are in each cell wing four tiers, sixty-two cells to each tier, making a total of 496 cells in the two wings, each cell being + feet 6 inches by 8 feet. The front build- ing, or warden's house, is 50 by 80 feet ; total height, 80 feet. In the rear of the guards' hall is the dining room, 42 by 112 feet ; to the right of the dining room is the kitchen; to the left the laundry ; over the dining room is the chapel. The building is 434 feet front by 300 feet deep. There are to be nine workshops, forming a square with the main building for the front, located near 50 feet from each other and the prison walls ; seven shops will be 50 by 102 feet, and two will be 50 by 120 feet, with wings 40 by 80 feet ; all two stories high, except one half of the wings to the last two shop‹, which are one story; the whole to be inclosed with a substantial stone wall.
CHAPTER XLV.
STATE INSTITUTIONS. (continued.)
The Iowa State University - Historical and Descriptive Sketch- The De- partments - Terms and Conditions - Other Institutions.
THE STATE university, according to the constitution, is perma- nently located at Iowa City. The institution was organized in 1856. "The objects of the university " says Mr. W. W. Clay- ton, "are to provide the best and most efficient means of impart- ing to young men and women, on equal terms, a liberal education, and thorough knowledge of the different branches of literature, the arts and sciences, with their diversified applications .. It is provided by law, that so far as practicable, it shall begin its courses of study in its collegiate and scientific departments, at the points where the same are completed in the high schools of the state, and thus articulate with the highest department of the graded school system. No pupil is admitted who has not pre- viously completed the elementary studies in such branches as are taught in the common schools of Iowa. The law provides that the university shall never be under the exclusive control of any religious denomination ; that it shall be governed by a board of regents, consisting of the governor of the state, who shall be presi- dent of the board by virtue of his office, and the president of the university, who shall also be a member of the board by virtue of his office, together with one person from each congressional dis- trict of the state, who shall be elected by the general assembly ; that the university shall include a collegiate, scientific, normal, law, and such other departments, with such courses of instruction and elective studies as the board of regents may determine. Un- der this last head the medical department is included. All speci- mens of natural history, geology and mineralogy, which are col-
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lected by the state geologist, or by any others appointed by the state to investigate its natural history and physical resources, be- long to, and are the property of the state university, and form a part of the cabinet of natural history, which is under the charge of the professor of that department."
The following summary of the departments of the university is compiled from the last annual catalogue : There are three depart. ments, viz : academical, law and medical. The government of the university is vested in the president and in the faculty of the three departments. The advantages of the university are offered to all who desire them with certain conditions : *
The students of any department may avail themselves of the facilities afforded in the other departments to any extent consis- tent with their regular studies. It is the purpose of the regents and faculties of the university to keep it, as nearly as possible, abreast with the most advanced educational spirit of the times. With this view they are extending the range of study, increasing the number of professors and assistants, improving the facilities for instruction, and raising the standard of scholarship, as rapidly as the treasury of the institution will allow, and the best interests of the students and the commonwealth demand. It is believed that the youth of Iowa and adjacent states, who may come hither to qualify themselves for their various spheres of life, will find here all the means of professional and liberal culture which they can profitably employ.
The programme of study in the academical department covers a period of six years. The period includes the subfreshman, or preparatory course, of two years, and the usual college curriculum of four years. In the college curriculum there are four courses of study : classical, philosophical, scientific and civil engineering. These courses are intended to be so diverse in their requirements and advantages, as to offer a reasonable range of choice to meet the different wishes, necessities, or tastes of the students. Every student, at the commencement of his freshman year, will be re quired to make an election of one of these courses, with the inten- tion of pursuing it till graduation, or so long as he may be a mem-
* " Andreas' Iowa State Atlas."
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ber of this department. No student will be allowed, without per- mission from the faculty, to change his elected course, or to pur- sue more than three studies at a time, except as required by the programme. Any person complying with the terms of admission given below will be allowed to select from the four courses such studies as he may perfer, under the direction of the faculty. Irreg- ular students will recite with the academical classes, and will sustain in all respects the same relation as other students to the university. Graduates of this or other institutions desirous of prosecuting studies not included in their undergraduate course, may, on con- sultation with the president, become connected with the universi- ty for that purpose, and avail themselves of such facilities as the several chairs of instruction afford.
Applicants for admission to this department must present tes- timonials of good moral character, and if coming from other col- leges, must exhibit certificates of dismission in good standing. Those who enter at the beginning of the subfreshman course must be at least fourteen years of age, and those who enter at a later stage of study must be proportionally older. Applicants of every grade must pass an examination in English grammar, geography, history of the United States, arithmetic, and intro- ductory algebra (Ray's or Robinson's) as far as quadratics. Candidates for the freshman class will be examined in the studies of the subfreshman course, or their equivalent. Those proposing to enter any course at an advanced standing, will be examined in such studies of the course as may have been pursued previous to their admission. Regular examinations will be held at eight o'clock A. M., on the Wednesday next preceding the opening of the fall term in September. Examinations will also be granted at the beginning of the winter and spring terms, or at any other time, to suit the convenience of the applicant; but it is of the highest importance to every student that he present himself for admission in September, if possible, so as to begin his studies when the reg- ular classes are formed. Any person applying for the privilege of pursuing the single line of study taught by any professor, will be allowed to do so, on consultation with the president, and with consent of the professor, without examination, and on payment of the fee for incidental expenses. The board of regents have au-
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thorized the faculty to receive, without examination, all appli- cants for admission bringing certificates of qualification from those high schools and academies in which the required course of study embraces the branches named in our catalogue as preparatory for the subfreshman course, provided the instruction in said schools and academies be known to be of such a character as to justify this arrangement. The same privilege will be extended to candi- dates for the freshman class, on presenting satisfactory testimoni- als of scholarship from the principals of such schools as shall be approved by the faculty, after a report from a committee which shall have visited them at the request of the school authorities. This privilege may be revoked at the discretion of the faculty whenever the students who may have been received under it shall show themselves to have been but poorly instructed in the pre- paratory schools.
By order of the president of the United States, at the request of the regents of the university, Lieut. Alexander D. Schenck, of 2d U. S. artillery, a graduate of the military academy at West Point, and of the U. S. artillery school, has been detailed to the professorship of military science and tactics. The object of this professorship is stated by the regents, "not to give the students an extensive military education, but only so much military training and knowledge as will best consist with the required literary and scientific purposes of the university. The battalion is composed solely of such students as choose to join it. The enlistment is for one, two or three academical terms. The duties prescribed by the regents are one hour's drill three times a week during the fall and spring terms, for the entire battalion ; and for seniors and juniors, one recitation or lecture per week through the winter term, involving not over one and a half hours' study on the aver- age. Cannon, muskets, swords and accoutrements are furnished by the federal government. Drums, fifes, flags, and other neces- saries, are supplied by the board of regents. Elegant uniforms can be obtained by the students, at their own expense, for a much lower cost than ordinary clothing.
It is the intention of those in charge of the study of civil en- gineering to prepare students for the same average usefulness in the usnal affairs in life as other graduates, and in addition thereto, to
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enable them, as inclinations direct and opportunities offer, to take an active part in the material progress of the times. It is there- fore the purpose of those in charge, to make it as thorough and practical as possible. With this end in view, frequent reference will be made to actual operations and constructions, data will be taken largely from real cases occurring in the experience of in- structors and others, and the corresponding computations made by the students. The course in drawing includes a complete knowledge of all the fundamental principles of the science, as well as an application of those principles to the various kinds of drawing embraced in the course. Students under competent di- rection, have extensive, free and unrestricted use of the various instruments belonging to this chair, and thus become more familiar with them than is possible where such use is in any way curtailed. In view of the facts mentioned, it is expected to se- cure an easy transition from the work of the class room to the duties of the field engineer.
Students pursuing this course will have the advantage of a valuable collection of standard works of reference; of a good supply of instruments; of the valuable charts published by the U. S. lake and coast surveys; of maps and drawings of railroad surveys and works; of about three thousand models from the patent office, illustrating almost every branch of engineering; of numerous drawings and photographic views of machinery ; besides a very fine bridge model, exhibiting in an elegant manner the strain upon the different parts of such a structure. Students in this course have free use of the general library, and all appur- tenances of the university. The laboratory of physical science is open to students every school day, from 8 to 11 A. M., and from 2 till 5 P. M. The laboratory occupies the entire first story of the north building, and covers an area of 3,500 square feet. The rooms are provided with cases, containing extensive collections of chemicals, crystals, minerals, rocks, and a cabinet of physical and chemical apparatus. The special laboratory library embraces many of the best works and periodicals on the different branches of physical science. The following laboratory courses are in ope- ration : A .- A GENERAL COURSE in the elements of physics, chemistry, and mineralogy, for students of the sophomore class.
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B .- ELECTIVE COURSES FOR JUNIORS AND SENIORS. 1. Theo- retical and practical physics, embracing optics, calories, electricity, magnetism, and molecular physics. (Three terms.) 2. Theoret- ical and practical chemistry.
And now as to the cabinet and means of illustration. The Geological department of the cabinet is especially valuable as re- gards our own state, from the fact that all the collections of the state geological survey were, by law, given to the university. From time to time, collections are being added from equivalent strata elsewhere, as well as from formations that are not repre- sented in Iowa. Besides the university collection, a very fine series of duplicates from the private collections of the professor of natural science, embracing many of the rarer forms from Iowa, with typical species from the more noted localities of other states, is kept by the institution, and is accessible to all students of Geo- logy. The Zoological department contains several thousand speci- mens, distributed among the various branches of the animal king- dom. A very large collection of crustaceans, shells, star fishes, corals, sponges, etc., formerly part of the great cabinet of H. T. Woodman, Esq., of Dubuque, has recently been added to the mu- seum, and affords superior means of illustrating the diversified forms of the marine invertebrates. Some hundreds of mounted specimens of our indigenous mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, etc., introduce the student to the fauna of the northwest. . The Botani- cal department contains a fair and constantly increasing number of preserved specimens of native plants. Illustrations for the classes, however, are now, and always must be, largely supplied by the fresh products of garden, wood and field. A good microscope is kept for frequent use in all the classes. A supply of charts, dia- grams, models, etc., illustrating the science taught in this depart- ment, is unusually complete. The method of instruction in natur- al science combines text-book recitations and lectures, with labo- ratory practice and field work, the aim being to lead students as far as possible to become independent observers of nature.
The design of the chair of didactics is to prepare teachers for advanced schools. Hence only those academical seniors who in- tend to become teachers, and special students who may be quali- fied to be classed with them, are allowed to pursue the normal
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studies. Didactics, in the higher sense, includes the philosophy of mind, the laws of mental development, and all those branches of study and methods of instruction that are employed in general education. The course of study and the methods of teaching in the academical department are such as would be selected if that department were organized and carried forward for the sole pur- pose of educating teachers for advanced schools. Such teachers need, primarily, accurate scholarship united with liberal culture. The instruction given in language, science, mathematics and litera- ture meet the demand.
The exercises in the normal class consist of text-book recita- tions, expository readings from standard works on education, dis- cussions in which all the members of the class are expected to participate, lessons in method, observations in public schools, ex- amination of text-books in common use and the reports thereon, together with lectures on various subjects relating to the history and systems of education in our own and other countries, to the organizing, grading and governing of schools, and the duties and responsibilities of principals and superintendents. It is believed that those who avail themselves of the opportunities thus afforded in the university will be instructed in all the learning necessary to fit them for the work of teaching, and in all the methods that will qualify them to do it well. The professors in the academi- cal department not only make use of text-books and recitations, but vary the exercises of the class room with occasional or serial lectures on such subjects - literary, scientific, and historical - as relate to their respective chairs, and are adapted to the several stages of progress which their classes may have reached. A pub- lic examination at the close of each term will decide the rank of every student in this department. A record is kept of the attainments of every student, and information concerning the same will be communicated to the parent or guardian when ren- dered necessary by irregularity of attendance or a low grade of scholarship. Those who complete the required course in a satis- factory manner, will, on receiving the degree of A. B. or B. Ph., be entitled to a certified testimonial of qualifications as teachers, and after two years of successful teaching, may receive the degree of bachelor of didactics.
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The normal library is supplied with standard educational works, reports of city and state superintendents, many of the leading educational journals of this country and England, sets of common school books, and apparatus for primary, grammar, and : high schools, which students are required to read and examine. The library of this department contains from six to seven thou- sand works, representating the various departments of literature and science, besides cyclopedias and other books of reference, pe- riodicals, both home and foreign. The University Reporter is a sixteen page monthly paper, conducted by the students, and aided by contributions from the faculty and former graduates. Terms : One dollar per year, in advance. Address, University Reporter, box 279, Iowa City. Connected with the university, are the Ero- delphian and Hesperian, composed of ladies; the Zetagathean and Irving Institute, consisting of gentlemen.
A thorough knowledge of the history, structure and use of our own language is considered by the regents of the university and the faculty of this department an indispensable element of the higher education. To furnish abundant facilities for gaining this knowledge is their steadfast wish and aim. The general plan pursued in English literature is as follows : In the fall term the origin and growth of the language are carefully studied, together with the lives and literary labors of distinguished English authors from the earliest times to the present. In the winter term, the writings of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspeare, Bacon, Milton, Addison and others are critically examined with a view to the just appreciation of their thought and style. Considerable time is also devoted to syntactical analysis and to tracing words to their origin in the Anglo Saxon and other tongues. In the spring term, the poets, orators and miscellaneous prose writers of America receive special consideration.
The department of law is now in the tenth year of its exist ence, having been founded in the year 1865 (as a distinct institu- tion at Des Moines, under the name of the Iowa law school), and incorporated with the university in 1868. Two hundred and fifty-six students have already received the degree of LL. B., and the number of graduates, as well as those in attendance for peri- ods less than the entire course, increases steadily with each suc-
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cessive year. Law students are subject to the general regulations of the university, but not to those designed expressly for mem- bers of the academical department. The course of study in the department is so arranged as to be completed within a single year, beginning in September and ending at the annual university com- mencement, the last of June. It is divided into three terms, cor- responding with those of the academical departmant. The course is intended to embrace all branches of a complete legal education, so far as practical within the time alloted, and to prepare students for the bar of any of the United States - special attention, how- ever, being given to the subjects most likely to be useful in west- ern practice. An advanced course, requiring another year of study, was established in the summer of 1874, and has been in operation during the whole of the past year. For the present, however, this course will be optional, and no change will be made in the requirements for the graduation. As the diploma of the school admits its graduates to all the courts of the state, the authorities of the university do not feel at liberty to make any change in the previous conditions for a degree until the legisla- ture have had an opportunity to pass upon such change, and to make it a part of the statutory conditions for the practice of law. In the meantime every effort will be given to make this optional advanced course of value to such students as desire to make the most thorough and complete preparations for the practice of law. It will be open without additional charge to all students who have already completed the regular course, will commence at the same time with the latter, and extend through the year. It will embrace, first, a thorough revision of all the topics of the first year ; second, special applications of the principles of law to the specific questions occurring in practice ; third, the study of general juris- prudence, and the philosophy of law. This advanced course will be henceforth a permanent feature of the school. Graduates of this department will be admitted to it without charge for tuition ; all others will be expected to pass an examination equivalent to that required for the degree of LL. B., and to pay the regular tuition fees. Such students, after completing the advanced course, will receive their degree as graduates of this institution. The library of this department contains about 2,500 volumes of
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