USA > Illinois > Champaign County > A Standard history of Champaign County Illinois : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic and social development : a chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs, Volume I > Part 28
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From time to time some slight provision had been made for musical instruction and in 1895 the work had been reorganized and enlarged. By vote of the trustees on June 9, 1897, the department became the School of Music with a separate faculty and organization.3 Instruction was given in violin, piano, and voice, and a course was offered leading to the degree of bachelor of music.
1 Rep. of Univ. of Ill., 1898, p. 44.
2 Rep. of Univ. of Ill., 1900, p. 254.
3 Rep. of Univ. of Ill., 1898, pp. 124, 125.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
DEAN OF WOMEN'S DEPARTMENT
The adequate supervision of social interests was felt to require dis- tinct administrative attention, and at the March meeting, 1897, the Board of Trustees created a Dean of Women's Department and appointed a dean in the person of Dr. Violet D. Jayne of Minneapolis, Minnesota.1 Events proved the selection to be a wise one. In 1901, a similar measure was adopted with reference to male students, by the appoint- ment of Professor Thomas Arkle Clark, Dean of Undergraduates, who served in this capacity until 1909, when he became Dean of Men.
In 1899 some additional courses were offered in railway engineering. Two years before this the Big Four Railway Company had built a dynamometer car for the use of the University upon its system, and in 1900 the Illinois Central Railroad did the same thing, and decided improvements were made upon the first car offered.
SUMMER SESSION ESTABLISHED
In the summer of 1899 the University made an earnest effort to establish the summer session. Some such efforts had been made years before, but without much success. It secured the attendance of 148 students during a term of nine weeks. The work was satisfactorily initiated and the results were considered quite substantial. The work offered was largely of a character which would appeal to teachers in the high schools of the state, and persons of this class responded in con- siderable numbers. Students were allowed to do work which might count towards a University degree, and many availed themselves of the privilege.
The work of the State Entomologist's office had been done at the University of Illinois since January, 1885. By legislative enactment in 1899 it became permanently established at the University, the trustees of which are required by that act to provide for the Entomologist and his assistants such office and laboratory rooms as may be necessary to the performance of their duties.
COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY ORGANIZED
On March 12, 1901,2 a College of Dentistry was organized as a department in the College of Medicine. In the following fall the school opened with an enrollment of 134 students.
1 Rep. of Univ. of Ill., 1898, p. 65.
2 Rep. of Univ. of Ill., 1902, p. 54ff.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
SCHOOL OF COMMERCE AND ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION
The General Assembly in 1900 made an appropriation for the cstab- lishment of courses of training for business, and, in accordance with that action, the trustees approved the organization of the Courses in Business Administration (frequently given elsewhere under the name of School of Commerce). The department opened in 1902 with two new professors, one called from Yale, and the other from Tome Institute.
One year later the special appropriation by Congress to the state made possible the founding of the Engineering Experiment Station. Within its scope were embraced several problems connected with archi- tecture, and civil, electrical, mechanical, and sanitary engineering. The quarters were in the University buildings and shops.
PRESIDENT DRAPER'S ADMINISTRATION
President Draper managed in a large degree to put the University in a more favorable light before the people of the state, who in many cases had looked upon it with disfavor or with indifference. One of the menaces of the University's power to do good was the claim often made through the secular newspapers of the state that there was little religious spirit in the University. President Draper early began placing the facts before the people to show that this was untrue. Statistics from the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations refuted these charges; greater efforts were made by the several church denomina- tions ; and near the end of his administration the percentage of men and women who were parties to the great Student Volunteer Movement for Christian Missions was shown to be greater than in any other state institution.
President Draper overcame much of the opposition which had existed in a measure between the University and other colleges of the state by showing in addresses and papers that all of these colleges and the state's big school were needed to do the work which should be done.
The increase in attendance at the University during the decade from 1894 to 1904 was marvelous. The attendance at Urbana increased from 750 in 1893-4 to 3,100 in 1902-3, and during the latter year there were about 900 in the Chicago departments. The number of instructors increased proportionately. Especially striking was the growth of the College of Agriculture. In the early nineties the attendance of regu- larly matriculated students had almost reached the vanishing point, a result due partly to defective equipment and partly to the prevailing
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
skepticism among the farmers themselves with regard to the possibilities of scientific instruction in agriculture. During this period new inter- est sprang up, the appropriations increased, and in 1903, for the first time, there came to the University a substantial number of agricultural students.
Not only were the appropriations increased for the College of Agri- culture, but there was also a general increase throughout the University. For the biennium commencing July 1, 1895, the appropriation for the general current expense was $180,000, and for the following two-year periods, respectively, $220,000; $270,000; $350,000; and $500,000; making a total in ten years of $1,520,000.1 In addition to these increased appropriations for current expenses, there were large appropri- ations for buildings.
LIBRARY AND AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS COMPLETED
The Library building, dedicated at commencement in 1897, was occu- pied in the September following. It was both designed and constructed by graduates of the University of Illinois. The interior decorations were made by Newton A. Wells, and it is said that they present the best example of a pure Byzantine style to be found in the United States. The architects were Professors N. Clifford Ricker and James M. White. A new Astronomical Observatory was completed, equipped, and occupied. Under the dome a fine twelve-inch telescope was erected by the foremost telescope builders in the United States. Another important addition to the group of University buildings was the Electrical Engineering building located just north of Engineering Hall; and the Central Heat- ing Plant located to the east of the Electrical building-both designed by professors in the department of Architecture. All the University buildings are heated hy the Central Heating Plant. The pipes are carried in brick tunnels a third of a mile in length and large enough to enable a person walking erectly to pass through them.
At the close of the year 1900, the main group of agricultural build- ings was completed on the South Campus, from an appropriation of $150,000. This was the first time the state had expended any con- siderable amount of money to provide an agricultural plant.
Other buildings erected during President Draper's administration were a new wood shop on the site of the old one which had been burned, a president's house, a splendid gymnasium, an excellent building for applied mechanics, a testing laboratory, and University water station.
1 Alumni Quarterly, Vol. IV, April, 1910, p. 99.
THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
South of the Science building a substantial and capacious chemical lab- oratory was constructed. The old chemical laboratory was remodeled and given over to the College of Law. The building of the College of Medicine in Chicago was largely reconstructed, and the West Division high school property was also acquired and put into excellent condition. In 1897 a new gymnasium was installed on the upper floor of the old mechanical building. It was not ideal in appearance, but was ade- quately equipped and well suited for practical use. It was provided with a very satisfactory equipment of lockers, and also with reasonable toilet and bathing accommodations. Illinois field was considerably enlarged and much improved in appearance. The unsightly board fence was removed and a handsome iron one put in its place. The running track was enlarged so as to be a full third of a mile in length.
The Legislature of 1903 made provision for the establishment of the Woman's building, three agricultural buildings, a foundry, and a steam laboratory.
A new greenhouse was constructed and occupied opposite the new electrical building, and added an attractive feature to the University grounds. In connection with the Electrical building and the Central Heating Plant there was installed and put into operation an electric lighting plant. It supplied are lights upon the campus and also incan- descent lights in the buildings which are wired for the purpose.
Two BUILDINGS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
Lightning struck the chemical building in August, 1896. The roof and practically the whole of the interior of the building were destroyed. Nothing remained but the four walls. Steps were at once taken to renew the roof and the interior was replaced in a very hasty, rough and unsubstantial manner because of lack of time and funds to do the work properly. A year later, in June, 1897, the Natural History building was struck by lightning. The results were not so serious as with the chemical laboratory, but fire followed and not only the roof but also the upper portions of the interior, and the building and its contents, were seriously injured by water. The damage to the latter building was repaired in time to prevent any interruption of University work.
On June 9, 1900, the oldest building on the campus, which accom- modated the wood shops, testing laboratory, hydraulic laboratory, repair shops, and gymnasium was totally destroyed by fire. The building was an old one, yet substantial and exceedingly useful, and housed important interests.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Perhaps the event which caused the most concern on the part of the administration was the defalcation of the treasurer in February, 1897. All the cash balances of the several funds were involved. All the appropriations had been collected from the State Treasurer to the end of the year, and there were no means which could be applied to salaries and other expenses. Fortunately the Legislature was in session and official notice was brought to the attention of that body, which came to the relief of the University by assuming charge of the whole matter and restoring the funds completely.
President Draper showed the keenest personal interest in students and student activities. The united action of the students in all impor- tant measures to be advanced, the kindly and frank treatment of each other in their personal and class relations, and the hearty and loyal support of all University interests were immense factors in the control and enlargement of the institution. The adoption of orange and blue as the University colors by the general assembly of students within a month after the beginning of the administration was a step in this direction. Encouragement was given to athletics by the employment of coaches and instructors in the department, and were made more popular by the president's attendance upon the games. The grounds were beau- tified and made attractive by making open spaces for sward, the paving of walks and drives, and the planting of a colony of squirrels upon the campus.
While President Draper stood for what furnished students social and physical enjoyment, at the same time he was a rigid disciplinarian. The enforcement of authority has been made easier down to the present time because of President Draper's successful stand in administering justice after a certain class riot, which occasioned considerable difficulty.
Dr. Draper resigned in March, 1904, his resignation taking effect after two months' leave of absence, thus practically rounding out ten years of service. They were a splendid ten years for the University of Illinois. Things were favorable when he began. The excellent oppor- tunity for the chief executive was turned to the best account. He quickly appreciated the situation and with abundant forcefulness and admirable generalship, carried the institution forward in its remark- able career. Having been elected to the newly created office of Com- missioner of Education in the state of New York, he gave up his work in Illinois with abundantly demonstrated evidences of its success during the ten years of his presidency.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
DR. EDMUND J. JAMES SUCCEEDS PRESIDENT DRAPER
On November 5, 1904, Dr. Edmund Janes James, the fourth presi- dent of the University, assumed the duties of that office. His formal installation took place in October of the following year. On this occasion delegates were present from a large number of American and foreign universities, making the exercises of unusual interest. Perhaps one of the most striking features was a series of conferences on various questions of educational policy.
President James is the first native of Illinois to be elected to the presidency of its state university. Moreover, he has served the two other great universities of the state, having presided over Northwestern for a time and having been for six years a professor in the University of Chicago. He was born May 24, 1855, at Jacksonville, Ill., and is a descendant of a pioneer Methodist minister. He prepared for college in the Model Department of the Illinois State Normal School and in the fall following his graduation there, became a student at North- western University. After spending one year at this institution and one year at Harvard, he entered the University of Halle in 1875, where two years later, at the age of twenty-two, he received his doctor's degree. He first taught as principal of the high school at Evanston, going from there to accept a similar position in the High School Department of the Illinois Normal University. In 1883 he became Professor of Public Administration in the University of Pennsylvania. While there he was for a time secretary of the graduate faculty and organized the instruction in this department. He was also Director of the Wharton School of Finance and Economy.
In 1896 he accepted a position as Professor of Public Administration and Director of the University Extension Division in the University of Chicago. Six years later he resigned this position to become President of Northwestern University, and in 1904 he again resigned his position in order to accept a similar one at the University of Illinois.
He received the honorary degree LL. D. from Cornell College (Iowa) in 1902, from Wesleyan, 1903, Queen's College, 1903, Harvard, 1909, and Michigan and Northwestern in 1914 ..
The progress of the University during the last few years has been rapid and uninterrupted. Opportunities for advanced work in nearly every department of the University have been materially increased. Perhaps the organization of the Graduate School as a separate admin- istrative body was a step which aided most greatly along this line. The Legislatures of 1907 and 1909 appropriated for the work of the school
EDMUND J. JAMES
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
a sum of $50,000 a year. This was a step unprecedented in the history of state universities and the act was warmly welcomed by educational authorities.
Hand in hand with graduate work goes the necessity for a strong library. While not yet all that can be desired, the University library has grown rapidly. The number of volumes in 1904 was 63,724, and the number of pamphlets, 14,512; while on June 1, 1917, the general University library, including Chicago departments with 21,389 books, 4,195 pamphlets and 8 maps, contained 397,710 volumes, and 102,029 pamphlets, 4,123 pieces of sheet music, 3,188 maps, and a file of photographs.
SCHOOL OF COMMERCE BUILDING
The courses in Business Administration were established in a modest way in 1900. Five years later an effort was made to put the work on a better basis, and the legislature gave the School an annual income of $25,000. Since that time it has become one of the strongest in the country. The legislature recognized the importance to the state of this department in the substantial way of making an appropriation for a commerce building, the cornerstone of which was laid March 21, 1912.
The department of Household Science assumed a notable position when in 1910, for the first time in any university, it offered a complete four-year course in household management, as distinguished from Household Science.
The College of Literature and Arts and the College of Science were consolidated July 1, 1913, thus eliminating unnecessary duplications and increasing exceedingly the efficiency of these departments. The new college is making a definite effort not only for the promotion of research, but also toward the uplifting of secondary education by giving to prospective teachers opportunities for higher work and better prepar- ation.
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION CREATED
During the year 1905, the trustees created a School of Education. In some respects this was a grouping of the courses in the University which pertained most directly to the future work of the teacher. All instructors who offer courses primarily for prospective teachers are on the faculty of this school. In framing its organization, the presidents of the normal schools of the state were consulted, and their advice has proved most helpful on many important points.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
SCHOOL OF CERAMICS
The Legislature in 1905 made the small appropriation of $5,000 for the establishment of courses in ceramics, in response to a request from the various ceramic societies of the state, who asked that the University give thorough and reliable instruction in the geology of clay working materials, their origin, classification, physical and chemical properties, and their behavior under such influences as are met with during the processes of manufacture. Courses in ceramics and ceramic engineer- ing, supplemented by a course in cement making, were organized and have become regular four-year courses in the College of Science. It is a School which has proved itself of much benefit to the people of the state in a number of ways. It has found a method of making high grade brick and tile from material before regarded as worthless. It has shown, in the manufacture of enamel brick, that Illinois clays may be used more profitably than those of other states. It has compounded a white and cheaper grade of stoneware. It has given to the people formula for compounding crystalline and fritted glazes which rereto fore had been kept secret.
STATE GEOLOGICAL AND WATER SURVEYS
In the same year the State Geological Survey and the State Water Survey became scientific departments connected with the University. The Legislature created the State Geological Survey as a bureau of the University, with the objects and duties usual to such surveys. The University has furnished suitable quarters for the offices of this survey, and it has found in the laboratories of the University a most valu- able assistance in the prosecution of its work. The presence in the Uni- versity of men of the scientific standing of those engaged in the Survey has been of very substantial, though indirect value to the scientific advance in these various subjects. The State Water Survey had for its purpose the study of the water supply of the state in all its aspects. Its work has been both in the field and in the laboratories.
The College of Agriculture and the Experiment Station have pro- duced a profound influence upon the farming practice of the state in the last ten years.
The main contribution of the College of Engineering, in the same period, as distinguished from what it has done hitherto, probably lies in the stimulus given to industrial research through the Engineering Experiment Station. As the work and purposes of the Station have
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
become better understood in the state, the officers in charge have been flooded with applications for help.
SCHOOL OF RAILWAY ENGINEERING
On January 30, 1906, the Board of Trustees created a department of Railway Engineering. One year later, supplementing that action, the School of Railway Engineering and Administration was established. This School offers courses in railway, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering as well as in management.
A Mine Rescue Station was established at the University in 1909. It is in cooperation with the State Geological Survey and the College of Engineering of the University. Its purpose is to demonstrate to mine operators and others the value of oxygen helmets and resuscitation apparatus in connection with rescue work in mines, as an aid to fighting mine fires, and in the opening of mines which have been sealed on account of fires. The Station not only gives demonstration but also undertakes to train men in the use of such apparatus, the service being given gratuitously.
GENERAL PROPERTY TAX FOR UNIVERSITY
June 13, 1911, a bill was passed providing for a one mill tax on each dollar of the assessed valuation of all the property of the state for the support of the University. On the present taxing basis, the law should yield about two and one-quarter million dollars a year. This sum is not automatically appropriated to University uses, although it can be used for no other purpose. This means that the ambitious inter- ests within the University will reach an agreement on the campus; the budget will be made here; and the united requests, within the sum available, can be presented as a unit to the legislative committee. The one mill tax puts the regular support of the University upon a safer foundation, and assures a regular income. No other event in the history of the institution is more important than the passage of this bill.
IMPROVEMENT IN CHICAGO DEPARTMENTS
The Chicago departments of the University have undergone a con- siderable improvement and reorganization in the past few years. Because of failure to receive appropriations for the operation of its medical department, the University was compelled to close it June 30, 1912. The College of Physicians and Surgeons again opened a school
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
on the same site. This caused such consternation among medical alumni and friends of medical education in Illinois that they proceeded to secure the capital stock of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and then presented it to the trustees of the University. The College of Medicine was then re-opened March 6, 1913. A vigorous policy of expansion and development followed. The equipment has been per- fected and brought down to date, and the entrance requirements have been raised to a par with those of the best medical schools of the United States. The College of Medicine has graduated 3,206 students and enrolled a total of 10,824. The dental department, which was closed at the same time as the medical department and for the same reasons, was reopened October 1, 1913. The College of Dentistry has also undergone considerable development within the last few years, as well as the School of Pharmacy.
The College of Agriculture is now organized with the following departments : Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Husbandry, Horti- culture, Veterinary Science and Household Science.
GROWTH OF COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, 1890-1917
The following table gives the registration of students and the size of the faculty since 1890.
Students
Year.
Registered. Faculty.
Year.
Students Registered. Faculty.
1890-91
7
3
1904-05
406
37
1891-92
6
3
1905-06.
430
44
1892-93.
13
3
1906-07
462
50
1893-94
5
3
1907-08
528
61
1894-95
9
3
1908-09.
531
63
1895-96
14
3
1909-10
660
74
1896-97
17
6
1910-11
729
74
1897-98
19
8
1911-12
829
100
1898-99
25
9
1912-13
905
120
1899-00.
90
16
1913-14.
1,014
137
1900-01
159
17
1914-15.
1,184
149
1901-02
232
23
1915-16
1,255
153
1902-03
284
27
1916-17
1,202
153
1903-04.
339
37
THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT
The military department of the University has developed in harmony with the spirit of the Land Grant Act of 1862 until. today the Uni- versity has the largest student enrollment in military of any college in the United States and probably in the world. October 30, 1915, the
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
trustees authorized the creation of a battery of field artillery, which has already become well organized. All freshmen and sophomores are required to take the work. The Cadet Brigade consists of two regiments of infantry (24 companies), a foot battery of field artillery, signal corps, engineer company and hospital company (consisting of sopho- mores). There are 2,279 cadets including the band of 165 men and 113 commissioned officers. By virtue of his position the president of the University is the Colonel of the Cadet Brigade. A School of Mili- tary Aeronautics was opened at the University May 21, 1917, in co- operation with the United States government and in the summer of 1917 enrolled about 200 cadets.
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