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 29
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LIBRARY SCHOOL
The Library School was transferred to the University of Illinois from Armour Institute, Chicago, in September, 1897, two years of col- lege work being required for entrance; in 1903 this requirement was raised to three years, and in 1911, to four years of college work. The school draws graduates from colleges and universities in all parts of the United States, and its graduates receive appointments to libraries in all sections of the United States.
Two hundred and sixty-eight students have completed the two years of work and have received the degree of Bachelor of Library Science; two hundred and eighty-seven others have completed the first year's work. About four hundred are now engaged in library work.
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
Although for many years the University of Illinois has offered advanced students facilities for study and research in various lines, graduate work was undertaken under the name of the Graduate School for the first time in 1892. In 1894 the administration of the school was vested in the council of administration, and the vice-president of the university became dean of the school. In 1906 the Graduate School was organized as a separate faculty, consisting of a dean and members of the university faculty assigned to this duty by the president. No means of support were provided, however, separate from those provided for undergraduate work. In the winter of 1906-07 the Forty-fifth Gen- eral Assembly of the State passed an act appropriating $50,000 per year for the support of a Graduate School of Fine Arts and Sciences in the State University. This is the first time in history when a State Legis-
286
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
lature has made a specified appropriation for such a purpose, and the act is noteworthy as committing a democratic government definitely to the promotion of advanced scholarship and research in lines which are not primarily practical. This appropriation has been continued by suc- ceeding Legislatures, and has enabled the university to carry on valuable investigations for the State and promote the world's knowledge, thereby bettering the quality of instruction and establishing the reputation of the university in the world of scholarship. One of the strongest evidences of educational progress of any university lies in the increased estimation in which she is held by her sister institutions throughout the country. Dean Kinley, in writing of this, said, "Our admission to the Association of American Universities and the consequent recognition of our graduate work by foreign universities, expressions of opinion in the newspapers and magazines and personally by distinguished educators, are all cumu- lative evidence that we have advanced to a higher educational plane in the opinion of those most able to judge."
At the present time the School of Pharmacy is the only department of the university which does not require full standard high school preparation for admission to the university. After September 1, 1916, by action of the board of trustees, the College of Pharmacy required the usual fifteen high school units.
GENERAL PROGRESS IN TEACHING AND STUDENT STRENGTH
With the increased appropriations and the increased attendance has also come a material strengthening of the teaching force. Salaries of men of professional rank have been increased 50 per cent, and distin- guished scholars have been brought to the university from all over the world. The standing today consequently of the faculty of the University of Illinois is indicated by the fact that in the 1903 edition of Who's Who in America there were thirty-four names of members of the faculty of the University of Illinois, while the edition of 1916-17 gives a list of 105, a gain of about 200 per cent. Similarly in the 1906 edition of the American Men of Science there were six members of the faculty of the University of Illinois among the 1,000 greatest scholars of the country, while in 1910 the number had increased to seventeen.
With the growth and variety of university interests, the problem of administration became more and more complicated. While in the early days matters of discipline were settled by the faculty, and if unsatis- factory, carried to the board of trustees, at the present time the council of administration, which is made up of the president, vice-president and
287
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
the deans, has complete control of discipline. The general faculty has given way to the University Senate, consisting of the members of the council and all full professors; although each college maintains its separate faculty, whose action in important matters requires the ratifica- tion of the senate or the council.
Naturally the increased attendance has meant increased activity in all kinds of student life. Fraternities and sororities have almost doubled in number. The installation of a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and other honorary organizations, is a tribute of the esteem which sister institutions in the country hold for Illinois. Inter- est has developed in debate and oratory and at the same time a record has been maintained in athletics of which Illinoisans may be proud. One of the most comprehensive organizations within the university per- haps is the Illinois Union. It came into existence at a mass meeting of the students on March 3, 1909. The union is an organization of all Illinois men, whether graduate, undergraduate or faculty, whose purpose is to develop good fellowship among the students and to promote the Illinois spirit by all possible means. It is hoped that a club building may be erected at an early date and greater co-operation established between the alumni and outgoing students.
One of the sources of strength to any institution is the good will and co-operation of its former students. The interest and pride of the alumni of the University of Illinois in its work seem steadily and plainly to increase. The Alumni Record made its first appearance in 1906 and contained an account of the life and work of each graduate of the institution up to that time, as well as similar accounts of the faculty and trustees. The 1913 publication was an attempt to continue the work, expanding and correcting the biographies. The University of Illinois Directory of 1916 is the first attempt to locate all persons who have ever been connected with the Urbana-Champaign departments, the 35,000 names being arranged both alphabetically and geographically.
The university has grown from 3 teachers and 77 students in 1868 to 840 teachers, 55 administrative officers, a library staff of 50, and 6,828 students in 1917. The most striking development has occurred within the last twenty years. More degrees were conferred annually by the Chicago departments, from the time of their addition to the university up to the year 1907, than by the Urbana departments. In 1903 there were 301 degrees conferred by the Chicago departments, but only 181 in 1904, because of the raising of the standards of the school, while the Urbana departments have increased from 183 in 1902 to 989 in 1917, in spite of the increase of entrance requirements. More degrees were
288
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
conferred by the Urbana departments of the university in 1917 than were conferred in all the years from 1868 to 1898, twelve times as many as in 1899, and over twice as many as in 1908. Altogether since its foundation the university has conferred 10,440 degrees in the Urbana departments and in all its departments 14,847 degrees. On June 15, 1917, the university conferred 1,166 degrees. The total number of degrees conferred by the university in 1917 represents a larger number than the total attendance at the University of Illinois in any single year prior to 1898, and the number of degrees conferred since 1910 exceeds the number of degrees conferred in the entire previous history of the University of Illinois.
Today the University of Illinois has one of the largest undergraduate departments in America and also has one of the largest enrollments of men students. There are 5,017 undergraduates, of whom 3,812 are men. The total attendance in all departments of the university is 5,187 men and 1,641 women. All of these except about 500 are nine-month stu- dents and this fact should be emphasized in all comparative college statistics, where night and Saturday and three-month students are included in the college enrollment.
SUMMARY OF GROWTH, 1903-17
The rapid growth of the University of Illinois, especially during the past decade, is seen especially in the size of its student body and faculty, which have more than doubled, by its land holdings, value of buildings and size of the library, which have nearly trebled. The following table will perhaps present a useful summary :
Attendance,
Land, Acres.
Faculty.
1903-04
351
Urhana. 2,674 6,757
Chicago. 1,042
641
Buildings. $1,127,500
1916-17
840
558
2,4832
3,180,635
Biennial
Library Volumes.
Important Buildings.
1903-04.
$1,814,863.78
67,040
12
1916-17
5,622,928.873
397,7184
52
IMPORTANT BUILDINGS ERECTED SINCE 1914
Addition to Chemical Laboratory (to May, 1916)
$358,755.00
Stock Judging Pavilion (1914) .
110,355.00
Administration Building (1915)
154,715.01
New Armory (1915)
229,119.17
1 With a total of 868 as at February 21, 1917, omitting all duplicates and in- eluding the Chicago departments and administrative officers.
2 Seven hundred and sixty-nine acres were given by Capt. T. G. Smith on condition that the university would erect a building for the School of Music costing at least $215,000. The figures cited do not include leased land.
3 Estimated at $6,200,000 for 1915-17.
4 Excluding pamphlets, etc.
Income.
289
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Ceramics (1916)
Vivarium (1916)
$129,880.50 55,204.93
Genetics (1916)
11,100.00
FROM 1908-14
Auditorium
$143.143.58
Physics $191,300.00
Commerce
97,375.00 Horticultural Glass House. . 85,390.00
Lincoln Hall
224,875.00
Transportation. 80,500.00
Natural History
184,200.00
Woman's 194,000.00
CHIEF BUILDINGS BEFORE 1908
University Hall (1873).
Law (1878).
Engineering (1894).
Agriculture (1900). Library ( 1897 ). Gymnasium (1901).
PROPOSED BUILDINGS
Woman's Residence Hall. .$110,000.00
Addition to Natural History $75,000.00
School of Education. 140,000.00
Addition to Transportation. 30,000.00
Smith Music Building. 215,000.00
Agricultural buildings 76,000.00
Medicine and Pharmacy 100,000.00
$746,000.00
The Smith Music Building is the gift of Capt. Thomas J. Smith in honor of his wife and will supply a great need. It is the first large private gift made to the university. Mr. Homer A. Stillwell (la 1878-80) has made an offer of $25,000 towards the Gregory Memorial Art Build- ing to be erected in honor of the first president, and it is hoped to make this an alumni gift to the university.
SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES REORGANIZED 1906-16
Graduate School (1906).
College of Medicine and College of
Colleges of Literature and Arts and Sciences consolidated (1913).
Dentistry (1913). College of Commerce (1915).
SCHOOLS AND DEPARTMENTS ADDED 1905-16
Railway Engineering and Administra- tion (1907).
Mining Engineering (1909). School of Education ( 1905).
Department of Ceramies (1916).
Mine Rescue Station (1909).
State Geological Survey (1905).
Genetics (1912).
Summer School for Coaches (1914). Aeronautics (1916).
DR. GREGORY'S PREDICTION
At the time ex-President Gregory came to the University of Illinois, he states in an address at the dedication of University Hall that when he was considering accepting the presidency of the institution and was interviewing friends in Champaign and Chicago, the trustees residing in or near Champaign expressed the generally prevalent faith in the institution, that it was to be "the grandest university on the American
1-19
290
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
continent," and in his concluding remarks at this dedication he says, "Some of those who are here today-the youngest of you, perhaps, that hear my words-shall come, here on other anniversary occasions and attend dedications of yet other halls that a great and liberal State, mindful of its own civilization, its own grand central, commanding posi- tion-the keystone of the continent-shall consecrate to this great work. Gray-haired and sage, you will recall the memories of this day-you will look still in fancy on this meeting and think on the prediction this day made, in your hearing."
With a State such as Illinois, rich in resources and central in loca- tion, realizing its opportunities in its State university, there is every reason to believe that the prediction of its founders will be realized at no distant date.
GROWTH OF UNIVERSITY BY YEARS 1867-1917
Y car
Faculty
Students Urbana Total. Urbana Urbana and Chicago
Degrees Total. Urbana and Chicago
Books
Bldgs.
Biennial Income
1867-68.
4
77
1
$72,753.85
1868-69. ..
11
128
..
1.092
1
1869-70. . .
19
180
3.646
1 133,278.72
1870-71
19
278
4,538
1
1871-72. . .
24
381
20
. .
.
8,427
2
1873-74. . .
25
406
19
10,000
3
123,459.30
1875-76. . .
27
386
28
....
3
1877-78. . .
29
377
42
.. .
....
4
170,999.43
1878-79. . .
33
416
23
...
4
1879-80. . .
30
434
25
12,550
3 133,088.89
1880-81. . .
28
379
46
3
1881-82. . .
26
352
34
13,510
3 129,620.63
1882-83.
24
382
36
14,000
3
141,032.79
1884-85.
27
362
45
3
1885-86.
29
332
37
15,300
3
149,677.77
1886-87
29
343
30
3
1887-88.
29
377
34
17,288
3
1889-90.
32
469
43
19.000
3
237,178.23
1890-91.
39
519
58(9)1
3
1891-92.
43
583
51(9)
21.216
4
359,144.14
1893-94. ..
67
718
...
78(9)
1894-95. ..
80
810
...
75(1)
...
27,750
6
1896-97 . .
170
878
1,059
95
137
30,100
12
1897-98.
184
1,034
1,582
89
232
36,990
13
607,632,00
1898-99. . .
194
1,152
1.824
110
265
41,678
12
1899-00.
229
1,531
2,260
154(1)
329
44.502
13
947,486.98
1900-01. ..
242
1,709
2.564
172
388
47,074
15
1901-02.
. . 279
2,020
3,016
183
484
52.717
18
1,363,716.08
1872-73. . .
25
400
14
1874-75.
30
373
37
3
3 183,870.11
1876-77. .
36
388
41
....
3
1883-84. . .
25
330
42
..
....
5
491,940.55
1895-96
84
855
82
28,200
9
594,938.40
1892-93. . .
48
714
75(10)
1
3 180,959.97
1888-89.
30
418
26
7,307
1 193,102.47
1 Honorary degrees in parenthesis included in total. .
291
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Year
Faculty
Students
Urbana Total, Urbana and Chicago
Urbana
Degrees Total, U'rbana and Chicago
Books
Bldgs. Biennial Income
1902-03 ... 316
2,342
3,381
229 (11)
525
57,594
18
1903-04. . .
351
2,674
3,594
313(9)
628
66.639
19
$1,814,863.78
1904-05. ..
350
2,779
3,736
270 (27)
591
74,326
27
1905-06. . .
408
3,225
4,107
313(2)
618
83.136
27
2,166,372.29
1906-07 ...
442
3,577
4,341
390(3)
6081
95.946 28
1907-08 ... 472
3,959
4,770
411(3)
624
108,283
32
3,102,761.42
1908-09
497
4,141
4,966
568
799
127,106
33
1909-10. . .
538
4,323
5,131
584(3)
766
157,836
35
3,199,832.54
1910-11. . .
555
4,401
5,217
602 (2)
792
180,371
36
1911-12. . .
583
4,340
5,200
646(2)
861
209,529
44
4,294,952.88
1912-13. . .
587
4,369
5,096
682
845
233,586
46
1913-14. . .
704
4,766
5.560
848
1.029
262.926
47
5,622,928.87
1914-15. . .
739
5,446
6,002
818
983
300;592
53
1915-16. . .
762
6,298
6.437
933
1,129
330,8952
603
6,278,590.69
1916-17.
840
6,759
6.828*
989
1,175
397,710
61
Total ..
10,440
14,847
ANNALS OF THE UNIVERSITY
A complete record of all matters referring to the university from the passage of the congressional act of July 2, 1862, donating public lands to the states and territories which designed to provide colleges for the benefit of "agriculture and the mechanic arts," up to the very last event of yesterday, has been prepared by the university scribes, and arranged and published, by years, in the 1916 University of Illinois Directory. Lack of space induces the editor of this work to condense from the annals some of the most noteworthy facts, to serve as an adden- dum to the more connected history.
FIRST MEETING OF THE BOARD (1867)
The first meeting of the University Board of Trustees was held at Springfield, March 12, 1867. Nominations for the position of regent being called for, the names of Hon. Daniel J. Pickney of Ogle County, Dr. N. N. Wood of Morgan County, Hon. J. L. Pickard of Cook County, and Dr. John Milton Gregory of Kalamazoo, Michigan, were proposed. Dr. Gregory was elected and granted a salary of $3,000 a year. A com- mittee of five, with the regent as chairman, was selected to prepare a
1 Seven of these are honorary, being the only literary degrees ever conferred by Chicago Departments.
2 In addition June 1, 1917, there were 102,029 pamphlets, 4,123 pieces of sheet music, 3.188 maps, and the libraries of the College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy in Chicago contain 17,572 volumes and 3.600 pamphlets.
3 Four additional buildings in Chicago. Fifty-one of these sixty-four build- ings have a valuation in excess of $5,000. Figures as that of May 1, 1916.
4 Excluding duplicates.
292
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
course of study and to report to the board. John W. Bunn of Spring- field was elected treasurer, and a finance committee was appointed to serve for one year. Willard C. Flagg of Madison County was elected corresponding secretary; O. B. Galusha of Grundy County, recording secretary. The board passed a resolution favoring the establishment of a mechanical department to be located at Chicago. March 29th-An election was held in Urbana and Champaign to decide whether the two cities should appropriate $45,000 for the university, Champaign to give $25,000; Urbana, $20,000. The vote was as follows: Champaign- For, 676 ; against, 4. Urbana-For, 406; against, 0.
On March 29th Dr. Gregory visited Champaign and Urbana for the first time, and on April 1st entered upon his duties.
UNIVERSITY OPEN TO STUDENTS (1868)
On March 2, 1868, the university "opened for the reception of stu- dents"-fifty-seven students, two professors and the head farmer the first week. Only three students registered the first day, although they had been urged to present themselves for examination on the first day. Total enrollment for first term, seventy-seven students (all men), with three professors (Thomas J. Burrill being employed later during the term as instructor in botany). Of the seventy-seven students, forty-five came from Champaign County ; the rest from nineteen counties of the State. The larger number of the students were of preparatory rather than of university grade. The following departments were organized, classical as well as industrial subjects being offered : I. Science, Litera- ture and Arts; II. Agriculture; III. Mechanical Science and Art; IV. Military Tactics and Engineering; V. Mining and Metallurgy; VI. Civil Engineering ; VII. Analytical and Applied Chemistry; VIII. Nat- ural History, Practical Geology, etc .: IX. Commercial Science and Art. The broad plan of organization of Regent Gregory has had a deep influ- ence on the entire history of the university.
The inaugural ceremonies and formal opening of the university occurred March 10, 1868, Hon. S. W. Moulton presiding. The music was under the direction of George F. Root of Chicago, who set to music the dedication hymn, written by Dr. Gregory, as follows :
We hail thee! Great Fountain of learning and light ; There's life in thy radiance, there's hope in thy might We greet now thy dawning, but what singer's rhyme, Shall follow thy course down the ages of time?
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
O'er homes of the millions, o'er rich fields of toil, Thy science shall shine as the sun shines on soil, And Learning and Labor-fit head for fit hand- Shall crown with twin glories our broad prairie land.
And as generations, in the grand march of time, Shall fill the long ages with numbers sublime, Thy portals shall throng with the lowly and great Thy Science-crowned children shall bless all the State.
Then hail thee! blest fountain of labor and light, Shine on in thy glory, rise ever in might; We greet now thy dawning; but ages to come Must tell of the grandeur, and shout Harvest Home.
Letters from Governor Oglesby, Senator Yates and Gen. John A. Logan were read. The principal address was delivered by Newton Bate- man, state superintendent of public instruction. General Hurlbut then introduced Dr. Gregory. The exercises were followed by a banquet in the dining hall of the university.
The following extract quoted from Dr. Gregory's inaugural address gives a clear idea of the fundamental plan underlying the pioneer days of the university, which has been developed in detail into a broad present-day system of learning and training: "We shall effect the more formal and more perfect union of labor and learning. These two will be married in indissoluble bonds at our altars. The skilled hand and the thinking brain will be found compatible members of the same body. Science, leaving its seat in the clouds and coming down to work with men in shop and field, will find not only a new stimulus for its studies, but better and clearer light for its investigations and surer tests for its truths. And labor, grown scientific, will mount to richer prod- ucts as well as easier processes. Thus these two, Thought and Work, which God designed to go together, will no longer remain asunder. Labor itself will be elevated to honor. Labor will be made more pro- ductive. Our national power and perpetuity will be greatly promoted. But there remains a grander and a broader triumph than all these. If we succeed, we shall demonstrate the practicability and point out the path of universal education. Let us but demonstrate that the highest culture is compatible with the active pursuit of industry, and that the richest learning will pay in a corn field or a carpenter's shop, and we have made universal education not only a possible possession, but a
294
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
fated necessity of the race. Prove that education in its highest form will 'pay,' and you have made for it the market of the world."
1870
The Department of Mechanical Engineering was created in February, 1870. In the following August, by a vote of five to four of the trustees, it was decided to admit women to the university. In September, the committee appointed by the various agricultural societies of the State to investigate the rather extensively circulated criticism of the Illinois Industrial University that it was primarily a classical school reported that "it was not."
In September, 1870, student government was adopted. The legis- lative body consisted of a general assembly elected by a vote of the students. The judicial department was a council of five chosen from the general assembly, and the executive department consisted of a president and vice-president of the government, an adjutant for each building and hall sergeants.
1871
In February, 1871, the first building appropriation for the university was introduced into the Legislature. It provided for $100,000 a year for two years for a main building, and $12,500 a year for two years for a mechanical engineering building, besides $25,000 a year for run- ning expenses, apparatus, etc. As passed in the following month, the bill provided $75,000 for a building to cost not more than $150,000, and $75,000 more was to be appropriated at an adjourned session. This was done and the building was completed at the expense of university funds.
On September 13, 1871, the Drill Hall and the Mechanical Shops were opened and the corner-stone of University Hall was laid. In November appeared "The Student," the first publication to be issued by the students of the university.
1872, 1873, 1874
In February, 1872, was organized the University Young Men's Chris- tian Association; in June the Alumni Association was founded, and in July the board of trustees reaffirmed the basic plan of the university by passing a resolution declaring that agriculture and the mechanic arts were the primary studies of the institution, "all others being secondary."
111
PRESENT ENGINEERING GROUP OF BUILDINGS
296
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
In September, 1873, the name of "The Student" was changed to "The Illini."
University and Adelphi halls were dedicated in December, 1873, and Philomathean Hall in May, 1874.
1876, 1877
A preparatory department was established in March, 1876. In June the board of trustees passed a resolution condemning secret socie- ties "as detrimental to the scheine of self-government attempted by the students."
In March, 1877, the School of Art and Design was established, and in September of that year the chemical laboratory was located and Major Dinwiddie, the first army commandant, took charge of the mili- tary department.
1881, 1882
In December, 1881, the regent reported to the board of trustees that the faculty had passed rules providing that no student could enter the university until he had pledged himself not to join a fraternity; and that no student should graduate until he had certified that he had not belonged to any while in the university. The adoption of these rules had disclosed the existence of four societies whose members peti- tioned the faculty to rescind the rules. The faculty turned the petition over to the board, which recommended that the request be refused. Like petitions presented the following spring met with the same action.
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