USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. IV > Part 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
4 See the Memoir of Samuel Gridley Howe, by Julia Ward Howe, with other memorial tri- butes, publisbed by the Howe Memorial Com- mittee, Boston, 1876; and the paper in James Freeman Clarke's Memorials.
274
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
should be the "Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind." The present officers of the Corporation are Samuel Eliot, president ; John Cummings, vice-president ; P. T. Jackson, treasurer ; M. Anagnos, secretary ; Robert E. Apthorp, John S. Dwight, Joseph B. Glover, J. Theodore Heard, M.D., Henry Lee Higginson, James H. Means, D.D., Andrew P. Peabody, D.D., Edward N. Perkins, Samuel M. Quincy, Samuel G. Snelling, James Sturgis, George W. Wales, - trustees.1
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY .- In the years 1858-59, an associa- tion of gentlemen, residing in and near Boston, became interested in securing a site on which to erect in close proximity such buildings as might be suitable and necessary for the museums and collections of the Natural History Society, the Horticultural Society, and such others as might be formed, representing the industrial and fine arts, so as by their union and co-operation to constitute a comprehensive museum or conservatory of arts and sciences. With this view they organized a "Committee of Associated Insti- tutions," and petitioned the Legislature for a grant of land on the Back Bay, suitable for their purpose. This petition failed of its object. In 1860 Professor William B. Rogers prepared a memorial to the Legislature, which was adopted by the committee, in which we find the first suggestion of "a school of applied science or comprehensive Polytechnic College, fitted to equip its students with the scientific and technical prin- ciples applicable to industrial pursuits." This also failed to obtain the favor of the Legislature, but led the way to the more definite organization developed in the report by Professor Rogers entitled, Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology, etc. The wide circulation of this report, accompanied by an appeal to the public for co-op- eration and aid, resulted in the calling of a meeting on Jan. 11, 1861, for the purpose of adopting measures for the organization of the Institute, and in furtherance of a petition to the Legislature for a charter and a portion of the Back-Bay land.2
In 1861 an act of incorporation under the name of "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology " was granted by the Legislature "to William B. Rogers and others, their associates and successors, for the purpose of instituting and maintaining a society of arts, a museum of arts, and a school of industrial science ; and aiding generally, by suitable means, the advancement, development, and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce." The Legislature also granted one square of land bounded by Boylston, Berkeley, Newbury, and Clarendon streets. The easterly one-third to the Boston Society of Natural History,8 and the re- maining two-thirds to the Institute of Technology. The Institute was formerly organ- ized by the election of William B. Rogers, president ; John Amory Lowell, Jacob
1 Institutions for the blind made slow pro- gress in Europe, but they have multiplied rapidly in the United States, numbering at present twenty-nine. The "American Printing House for the Blind " is the only chartered institution for printing for the blind in the world. It is much the largest in its productions and the most varied in the character of its works; being the only printing establishment of its kind that runs its press by steam. The press was invented for this company, and has no equal. When the en- terprise began, the price of stereotyping was five dollars a page; now, through the inventions of the superintendent, Mr. Huntoon, the work is done at a cost of ten cents a page. The stereo-
type plate may be made from a paper page, or . may consist of a brass plate, which costs but a small sum, and requires little room for storage. Report of the Commissioner of Education in 1879. 2 At this meeting the following committee was appointed to carry out the purpose referred to : William B. Rogers, Chairman ; J. M. Beebe, E. S. Tobey, S. H. Gookin, E. B. Bigelow, M. D. Ross, J. D. Philbrick, F. H. Storer, J. D. Runkle, C. H. Dalton, J. B. Francis, J. C. Hoad- ley, M. P. Wilder, C. L. Flint, Thomas Rice, John Chase, J. P. Robinson, F. W. Lincoln, Jr., Thomas Aspinwall, J. A. Dupee, E. C. Cabot.
3 See ante under the Boston Society of Nat- ural History.
275
EDUCATION, PAST AND PRESENT.
Bigelow, Marshall P. Wilder, and John Chase, vice-presidents ; Thomas H. Webb, secretary ; Charles H. Dalton, treasurer ; and through the liberality of friends suffi- cient funds were raised to initiate the plan by establishing the Society of Arts. The first meeting of this society was held Dec. 17, 1862, since which time it has continued to have two meetings in each month of the sessions of the Institute, on which occasions are presented communications on various topics in applied science, with the exhibition of machines and apparatus illustrating important inventions in the useful arts.
Through the activity of the Society of Arts and other means, the practical objects of the Institute soon became more widely known and appreciated, and a generous gift from Dr. William J. Walker, with large contributions from other friends, prepared the way for establishing the proposed school of Industrial Science. A report by Professor Rogers on the "Scope and Plan of a School of Industrial Science " was adopted May 30, 1864, and the scheme therein set forth has continued to form the basis of the in- struction in all departments of the school, with only such changes and additions in the details of the organization and equipment of the laboratories as time and experience could determine.
The school of the Institute was opened in February, 1865, with a class of twenty- seven students, in hired rooms in the Mercantile Hall, Summer Street, where the · Society of Arts also held its meetings. In 1866 the Institute took possession of its building in Boylston Street, under the same officers, with the exception of the secretary. Dr. Webb having died, was succeeded by Dr. Samuel Kneeland, who continued in office until 1879.
The following regular courses of study have been arranged in the Institute, each extending through four years, for proficiency in any one of which the degree of Bach- elor of Science (S.B.) may be conferred : I. Civil and Topographical Engineering ; II. Mechanical Engineering ; III. Mining Engineering, or Geology and Mining ; IV. Building and Architecture ; V. Chemistry ; VI. Metallurgy ; VII. Natural History ; VIII. Physics ; IX. An Elective Course ; X. Science and Literature. Advanced courses of study are prescribed for the degree of Doctor of Science. Provision is also made for persons who desire to pursue special portions only of any of the regular courses.
A novel feature in the original plan of the Institute - which has been fully carried out by its professors, and has since been adopted in many other institutions in this country - was the introduction of Laboratory teaching (hitherto confined to the depart- ment of chemistry) in the departments of physics, mechanics, and mining. Special laboratories have been provided for the instruction of women in chemical analysis, industrial chemistry, mineralogy, and biology through the co-operation of the Woman's Educational Association of Boston.1
A school of mechanic arts has been established in the Institute, adapted by Presi- dent J. D. Runkle from the Russian system of shop work, for the instruction of those who wish to pursue industrial trades, as well as for those who are preparing to become scientific.engineers. The Institute, in addition to the objects set forth in its act of in- corporation, is required to provide for instruction in military tactics, and has a large drill-hall, including a gymnasium.
Beside the systematic day-courses, the Institute proposed as a part of its work " to provide evening instruction to persons of both sexes, who, being unable to study dur- ing the day, desire to avail themselves of systematic evening lessons or lectures." The
1 [See Mrs. Cheney's chapter. - ED.]
276
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
trustee of the Lowell Institute, John Amory Lowell, has, since the opening of the school, provided the funds for the maintenance of this department free to the pupils. These courses are more or less varied from year to year, but include in their entire scope instruction in a great variety of scientific and literary subjects. Mr. Lowell also provides for a course of free instruction in practical designs for manufacturers.
In 1870 Professor Rogers resigned the presidency of the Institute, and was suc- ceeded by Professor John D. Runkle, who continued in office until 1878, when Pro- fessor Rogers was again appointed.
The annual income of the Institute is derived from bequests and gifts of its friends, from a portion of the State fund arising out of the Congressional grant of public lands in aid of industrial education, and mainly from the fees of its students. The most im- portant bequest was that received from Dr. William J. Walker ; also generous bequests have been received from Ralph Huntington, James Hayward, Powell Mason, James Savage, Nathaniel Nash, Henry Harris, James McGregor, and A. K. Welch.
The officers of the Institute at present are : President, William B. Rogers, LL.D .; Treasurer, John Cummings ; Chairman of the Faculty, Professor John M. Ordway ; Secretary of the Faculty, Professor Robert H. Richards. The number of professors and other officers of instruction is thirty-seven ; the number of students is three hundred and fifty-six.
. MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR IDIOTIC AND FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN. - In 1839 an idiotic blind child was brought to our Institution for the Blind. He was not only unsound in mind, but infirm in body. Although not a fit subject for the Institution, he excited the sympathy of Dr. Samuel G. Howe, the superintendent, who decided to retain and try to improve the unfortunate child ; and he was convinced beyond doubt that idiots were capable of being improved in their bodily habits, in their mental ca- pacities, and even in their spiritual natures.
An appeal was made to the Legislature urging upon its members that considera- tions of duty, humanity, and economy all demanded that the condition of idiots at public charge should be inquired into with a view to its speedy improvement. The result of this appeal was the appointment of a commission, of which Dr. Howe was chairman ; and their report induced the Legislature to appropriate $2,500 annually for three years for the training and teaching of ten idiotic children. An arrangement was soon made with the trustees of the Institution for the Blind to assume the responsi- bility, and to Dr. Howe was intrusted the carrying out of the experiment, which proved so successful that at the end of two years the Legislature doubled the appropriation, and made provision for converting the experimental school into a permanent one.
Samuel Eliot, LL.D., is President, and Edward Jarvis, M.D., Vice-President of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Jarvis is also Superintendent of the Institution.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY. - This institution was founded in 1869, and owes its origin to the combined efforts and beneficence of Isaac Rich, Jacob Sleeper, and the late Lee Claflin, father of Governor Claflin. Mr. Rich bequeathed to it the larger part of an estate valued by the official appraisers after his death at over $1,700,000. The plan of this institution is unique and comprehensive, including colleges, professional schools, and a department of universal post-graduate instruction called a " School of All Sciences." The first of these are designed to prepare students for the higher in- dustries and arts of civilization and for the study of the learned professions ; the
277
EDUCATION, PAST AND PRESENT.
second, to qualify them theoretically and practically for professional life ; the third, including and supplementing the general or non-technical instruction of the profes- sional schools, to be a universal and non-professional school of elective post-graduate studies with special degrees, scholarships, and fellowships.
Of the colleges, three have already been organized, - that of Liberal Arts, in 1873 ; of Music, in 1872 ; of Agriculture, supplied by the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, associated with the University in 1875. The College of Liberal Arts an- swers to what is called in many universities "the academic department." Its courses of instruction qualify students for the degrees of bachelor of arts and bachelor of phil- osophy. The College of Music is designed for students of the average proficiency of graduates of the best American conservatories. The regular courses of instruction for vocalists, pianists, organists, and orchestral performers extend through four years.
In 1871 the trustees of the Boston Theological Seminary - the oldest and largest of the theological schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church - legally conveyed and transferred their property and trusts to the University, the assets amounting to nearly a quarter of a million dollars. The school is open to candidates of all Christian denomi- nations, and was the first to give to women regular theological instruction and degrees.
The School of Law was opened in 1872. Under the administration of the genial and scholarly George S. Hillard, its first dean, aided by his friend and successor Judge Bennett, Judges Thomas, Curtis, Lord, Lowell, Foster, and other eminent lectur- ers, the school quickly became one of the largest in the country.
In 1873 the trustees of the New-England Female Medical College-said to be the oldest of the class in the world - leased their building to the University for a medical school ; and in 1874, in accordance with a special Act of the Legislature, transferred all their properties and franchises to the University Corporation, and the College was thus merged into the broader co-educative University School of Medicine. This de-" partment also had a rapid growth, so that as early as 1875 the aggregate of theologi- cal, legal, and medical students in the University exceeded that of any other American university.
In 1874 negotiations were opened with the authorities of the National University of Athens, and of the Royal University of Rome, which resulted in securing to the members of the graduate department, or School of All Sciences, of Boston Uni- versity free instruction in those institutions. .
The. University has already contributed largely to elevate the standards of profes- sional education and of degrees in this country. Notwithstanding its youth and financial limitations, its requisitions for admission to the College of Liberal Arts, and to the classical degrees, are higher than in any other American college.1 Its minimum re- quirement for theological graduation and degrees is higher than in any other. It was the first to present and maintain a three-years' graded course of instruction in law, and its requirements for the higher legal degrees are unequalled. In medicine it was the first to present courses of instruction four years in duration, and to re-instate the baccalaureate degrees of medicine and surgery.
A fundamental idea with the founders of the University was that such an institution should be equally for both sexes. Hence in all departments the principles of co-edu- cation are thoroughly carried out. Men and women are welcomed to all the advan- tages of the University on precisely the same conditions, - not only to the bench of
1 Since the above was written, the University cently agreed upon by the New-England College has accepted, as alternatives, the requisitions re- Association, in Latin, Greek, and Mathematics.
278
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
the pupil, but also to the chair of the professor, and even to membership in the gov- erning corporation.
Throughout Christendom the age of exclusive male education is fast disappearing ; and in duly representing and advocating the broader movement of the new era, Boston University, both by its example and its publications, has played no unimportant part. Thus far it has carried out its comprehensive plan with distinguished success. It has already graduated over one thousand students. During the past five years its annual attendance has exceeded six hundred. The proportion of female students has grad- ually risen until they now constitute about thirty per cent of the whole. Already in 1875 the number annually graduated from the schools of theology, law, and medicine exceeded that from the corresponding schools of Harvard or Yale. Its financial con- dition is prosperous, notwithstanding its great loss by the Boston fire of 1872. The President of the Institution is William F. Warren, S.T.D., LL.D., son of Mather War- ren, of a family connected with the Mathers, Whites, and Cottons of Boston's early history. Ex-Governor William Claflin, LL.D., is President of the Board of Trustees.
The deans of the several departments are : James E. Latimer, S.T.D., Theology ; Edmund H. Bennett, LL.D., Law; I. Tisdale Talbot, M.D., Medicine ; John W. Lindsay, S.T.D., All Sciences ; Eben. Tourjee, Mus.D., Music; Hon. Levi Stock- bridge, Agriculture ; John W. Lindsay, S.T.D., Liberal Arts. The number of officers of instruction and government is ninety-six.
BOSTON COLLEGE. - Boston College, under the care of Fathers of the Society of Jesus, was incorporated in 1863, with power " to confer such degrees as are usually conferred by colleges in Massachusetts, except medical degrees." Although a Catholic institution it is not a proselyting one, students from other denominations being received, and not required to participate in any distinctive Catholic exercises ; and no influence is exerted to induce a change of belief. The institution is supported by fees for in- struction and by scholarships founded by friends of the College. The professors receive no compensation except their board and clothing; they devote their lives to this work, and look for rewards beyond. The schools began unpretendingly, and have not yet reached any great proportions ; but one fact is noticeable, -since the year they were opened the number of pupils has been steadily increasing, and is now two hundred and fifty. The course of study includes the Latin, Greek, French, and German languages, mathematics, chemistry, English literature, mental and natural philosophy. In one department this institution, young as it is, affords an example which might be followed with advantage in other colleges, - the scholars are taught to converse in Latin, and to discuss philosophical subjects in that language. Its President is the Rev. Jeremiah O'Connor, S.J.
Chances K. Dulany
CHAPTER II.
LIBRARIES IN BOSTON.
BY JUSTIN WINSOR, Librarian of Harvard University.
T HE town, or possibly the colony, established in Boston a collection of books for public use sometime before the Indian outbreak of 1675. Robert Keayne, in his curious will 1 dated in 1653, beside leaving money for building a town house, mentions a room for a library, and books for it, as among the public provisions which he desired to make; 2 but we have no trace of such a library earlier than the bequest of John Oxenbridge in his will dated 12th day of the first month, 1673-74, by which he leaves a few books " to the public library in Boston," etc .; 3 and not long after, Feb. 16, 1676, a London bookseller sends tidings to Increase Mather of an invoice of books which he had shipped, hoping Mather would " recommend some to your public library."4 There is in the Boston Athenaeum a copy of Samuel Mather's Testimony against Idolatry and Superstition, which was printed at Cambridge in 1670; and upon this copy is inscribed, " ffor the Publike Library at Boston, 1674." In 1686 the Town Records mention " the library room at the east end of the town house; " and in Sewall's diary 5 Andros is recorded as meeting the ministers, the same year, "in the library" at the Town House. In 1695, March 11, there is another reference to the library of the town. We have only such fragmentary knowledge of this earliest public library; and whatever it may have been, it was probably the foun- dation of that accumulation of " ancient books," whose destruction is men- tioned at the time of the burning of the Town House in 1747.
The Library of Harvard College had been begun on the death of its first benefactor, in 1638, with his bequest of three hundred and twenty volumes,6 and was added to from time to time by the care of its friends. The Mathers were seemingly the largest accumulators of books in their day; but few or none of their treasures, so far as we know, passed into the
1 Vol. I. p. 237.
2 Shurtleff's Description of Boston, p. 400.
Vol. I. p. 501.
4 Vol. I. p. 501.
5 Sewall Papers, i. 162.
6 Vol. I. p. 455.
280
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
College collection, and if any did, they disappeared in the destruction of that library which came so heavily upon the College and the community in 1764.1 What Increase Mather inherited or began, Cotton Mather aug- mented; and a collection which excited Dunton's admiration 2 in 1686 grew to be the chief wealth of the family, numbering seven or eight thou- sand volumes, and was in the end consumed in part, if not wholly, in 1775, at Charlestown, during the battle of Bunker Hill.3
But while Harvard College Library was growing, because it had friends in England as well as in the colony, one of its chief foreign benefactors was urging its authorities to chain their books to desks, as they did at the Bod- leian, to prevent their being carried away. This was in 1725; 4 but that very year Allan Ramsay in Edinburgh was founding a circulating library,- the earliest of its kind, - for the purpose of allowing its books to be taken to firesides; and a few years later the earlier removal of Franklin to Phila- delphia gave that town in 1731, instead of Boston, the credit of establishing the first subscription library in America, - now the flourishing Philadelphia Library.5 It was more than thirty years after this, in 1764, that John Mein, a Scotchman, opened in Boston its first circulating library of twelve hun- dred volumes.6
Meanwhile, however, the town, by virtue of the scholarly sympathy of Thomas Prince, had in effect received the gift of a library. He had begun to form a collection of books upon entering college in 1703, and the design sub- sequently took shape in two separate schemes. He went abroad after gradu- ation and continued his collecting. Upon his return, he became a colleague pastor of the Old South, and then his two aims developed. The later of these objects was to form what was practically a theological collection, which he terms in his will, "my books that are in Latin, Greek, and the Oriental languages," - a collection dating from 1718. The other object he defines in his will as the gathering of "a number of books, pamphlets, maps, papers, in print and manuscript, either published in New England or per- taining to its history and public affairs, to which collection I have given [he says] the name of the New England Library." It was in books of this character that he put his book-plate: " Begun to be collected by Thomas Prince upon his entring Harvard College, July 6, 1703;" and in his will he says regarding them : "I made the collection from a public view, and desire that the memory of many important transactions might be preserved, which otherwise would be lost; " and he enjoins " that no person shall borrow any book or paper therefrom, but that any person, whom the pastors and
1 Vol. II. p. 432. See also Public Libraries in the U. S., Washington, 1876, p. 22, -a vast accumu- lation of information, gathered under the super- vision of the Comm'r of Education ; but its con- tents might well be condensed into a hand-book. 2 Vol. I. p. xviii.
8 "The loss of Mr. Mather's library, which was a collection of books and manuscripts, made by himself, his father, his grandfather, and great-
grandfather, and was really very curious and valuable, is irreparable." - John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 7, 1775.
4 The first printed catalogue of the College Library had been issued two years before, in · 1723; and in Vol. II. p. 413, will be found some examination of its contents.
5 Vol. II. p. 279.
6 Ibid., pp. xix. 433.
281
LIBRARIES IN BOSTON.
deacons [of the Old South] shall approve of, may have access thereto, and take copies therefrom."
That during Prince's life the library was publicly used seems evident from notices in the Boston newspapers for the return of its books; and after his death (1758), when by his will the books were transferred to the custody of the deacons of the Old South, it is well known that Hutchinson and other scholars availed themselves of it; 1 as indeed they might have used the accumulations of the other learned men of their day, including . those of Hutchinson himself, one of the most assiduous of collectors in the colony's history. The Probate Office yields us not a few inventories of private collections occasionally dispersed by the death of their proprietors. In 1717 the library of the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton was scattered by public auction, - the first instance, it is thought, of such a dispersement in Boston.2
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.