USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > History of Androscoggin County, Maine > Part 23
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To group the chief benefactors of the college, in spite of the slight repetition it may involve, is to present in a true light one important chapter of the college history. First among these, first in time, and first in the amount of his benefactions, was the noble man whose name the college bears, who gave the institution, in addition to his valuable influence, $100,000. The state of Maine, with a constitution requiring it to make, from time to time, appropria- tions in aid of institutions of learning, must be ranked among the benefactors
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of Bates. It appropriated $15,000 at the beginning of the Maine State Seminary, and, at the starting of the college, two townships of land, valued at $20,000. The Free Baptist Education Society, relieved by the college of the support of its theological school, gave $25,000 towards securing Mr Bates's last subscription. The Alumni Association, a legally incorporated body, gave the college its note for $10,000, with the understanding that all gifts from the alumni should go towards the liquidation of the note. President Cheney, with characteristic liberality, gave $11,000 to the college to which he has given his life. The bequest of Mr Joshua Benson, of Boston, brought great encouragement to the college in a dark hour of its history. Intending to devise the principal part of his estate to some institution of learning, he was induced by a grand-nephew of his, then in college, the late Mr E. H. Besse, of the class of 1877, to consider the character and need of Bates. Another grand-nephew, Mr E. C. Benson, of Boston, heartily seconded this request. The will was made in favor of Bates, and brought it $40,000, though changes in the real estate somewhat reduced this amount.
The next large legacy came to the college by the will of Mrs Sarah S. Belcher, of Farmington, Me. A widow, without children, long interested in the educational work of her denomination at Lewiston, and influenced by her friendship for Dr Cheney, she formed the wise and large-hearted purpose of leaving the bulk of her property to the college. The will was contested on the ground of undue influence, a fictitious and absurd charge, contradicted by her remarkable strength of mind and disallowed by the courts. The expense of the entire snit falling upon the college, the only result of the trial was to take from the legacy nearly $10,000 for the costs of law, leaving $40,000 to the treasury.
The largest benefaction Bates has received from any person now living is $25,000 from Hon. J. L. H. Cobb, of Lewiston. To this noble liberality in behalf of the college Mr Cobb was moved as the result of his observation of its work and worth. How the trustees expressed their appreciation of this benevolence of spirit and act by naming the divinity school after him has already been noticed.
In 1887, Mrs Caroline A. Wood, of Cambridge, Mass., left to the college a legacy of $35,000. In early life Mrs Wood was connected with the Free Baptist church in Vermont. By removal of residence her membership was lost to the denomination, but not her attachment. Having become acquainted with the character and needs of the college, she generously remembered it in the final disposition of her estate. The money thus devised is yet on its way to the treasury. This is also true of the money coming from another recent bequest, that of the late Mr Henry W. Easterbrooks, of Sutton, Vt, whose thoughtfulness in his last days brings to the college $12,000 in aid of the education of young men for the ministry.
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Early in the history of the institution, Mr William Toothaker and his wife, of Phillips, Me, gave it $6,600. At a later period Hon. Asa Redington, LL.D., of Lewiston, made a donation to the college of $5,000 in stock, accompanied by the wish that $1,000 of this sum be used to found a scholar- ship for a lady student -- the first act of the kind known in the experience of a New England college. By depreciation of the stock shortly after its transfer to the college, the generous purposes of Judge Redington failed to give the aid intended. Mrs Charlotte Chesley, of New Market, N. H., left the college by will about $4,000. Hon. George G. Fogg, LL.D., of Concord, N. H., one of the trustees, showed his genuine friendship for it by a gift of $5,500.
Mr Chace Lewis, of Providence, R. I., endowed one of the first scholarships in the college, and also left to it a legacy of $4,000. The late Mr M. D. Spalding and his brother, of Boston, rendered valuable aid to the college in its time of need, by a gift of $4,000. By repeated remembrances of the college, the late Mr S. D. Warren and his family, of Boston, assisted it to the amount of $10,000, assistance made doubly valuable by the ever cordial spirit with which it was rendered. I. H. Hedge, M. D., of Waukon, Iowa, contributed $5,000 towards the erection of the laboratory that bears his name. Two liberal and cultured ladies of Boston have placed the college under deep obligations to them for donations amounting to $7,300. Their names, not their generous acts, can be kept concealed. United States Senator Stanford, of California, has given this Maine college signal reason for cherishing a fraternal interest in the university of which he is the founder, as well as for holding his name in lasting honor by a gift to Bates of $8,000. In addition to these sums should be counted the outstanding pledge, soon to be honored, of $30,000 towards an observatory and its equipment.
As has been said this is only a partial list of the noble benefactors who have chosen to make Bates the almoner of their liberality to church, society, and native land. The college thus bears witness to the claim of American wealth to be foremost in the world in recognizing institutions of learning, and especially those designed for students of limited means, as agencies of highest usefulness. Were all the records of Bates to be published they would testify as strongly to the appreciation of such institutions by American people not counted as wealthy.
THE EQUIPMENT OF THE COLLEGE. - The aggregate gifts to the college named in the above list is about $415,000, including in this sum the legacies and pledge not yet in the possession of the college. By means of these and smaller gifts, the college, in spite of the large excess of current expenses over current income, extending through a period of fifteen years and carrying the debt nearly to $90,000, has managed to stop the deficit, pay this debt, and retain a working capital, that, by the strictest economy, will enable it to live. It now has, for both departments, an endowment fund of $262,967.22, shortly
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to be increased by the Wood and Easterbrooks legacies to over $300,000. The grounds contain fifty acres, and with the six college buildings are valued at $200,000.
The Gymnasium. - The gymnasium is the least expensive of the buildings, though adequate for its purpose. It is a commodious wooden structure in the rear of Parker and Hathorn halls, and is the place where commencement dinner is served. It is furnished with apparatus of the most approved pattern. Exercise is taken under the care of four students, one of them a young lady, who are specially trained at Harvard under Professor Sargent for instructors in gymnastics. It is thought that, by taking competent undergraduates for tutors in the gymnasium, the interest and morale of this work will be kept at its best, while the instructors will receive compensation to help them through their college course. Instruction is given four times a week to each class by itself. Regular attendance is required of all students as at other college exercises.
The Libraries connected with the college amount to 15,373 volumes. These are distributed thus : College library, 10,373;1 society libraries, 1,600; divinity school, 3,900. The books of the college library have been selected with care, and primarily with reference to the needs of the undergraduates. Hence, as an aid in their education it has a value that might not be found in a much larger collection of books. It contains little rubbish, is enriched by a few rare books of value, and is constantly growing.
The cabinet of minerals, fossils, shells, and birds, classified and arranged for uses of instruction, has grown with the years of the college to a respectable size. It contains valuable specimens of fossils from the coal regions of Pennsylvania, the gift of Rev. Dr I. P. Warren, of Portland. A. C. Hamlin, M. D., of Bangor, Me, contributed to the collection sixty rare minerals, including several precious stones. Other friends have made additions from time to time, so that, by gradual accumulation, it now answers, though still meager, most of the demands of the class-room upon it for illustrations of the processes of nature. One feature of the cabinet deserving notice is the ornithological collection that contains a good number of New England birds, together with specimens of foreign birds. This collection was gathered at a cost of $500, and presented to the college by its distinguished ornithologist, Professor J. Y. Stanton. The study of botany is aided by an herbarium, secured at a cost of several hundred dollars from the late President Chadbourne, of Williams College.
Apparatus is supplied to meet the needs of instruction in chemistry and physics to a good, but not to the fullest extent, as the aim of the college in this direction is sometimes hindered by lack of money. Several years ago the lamented Professor Stanley received seven hundred dollars from Mr A. D.
1 In 1891, 10,757.
.
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Lockwood, an old friend and former trustee of the college, for the purchase of a small telescope. By rare good fortune one of A. Clark & Sons' six and one- half inch glasses was secured from Professor O. C. Wendell of Harvard Observatory. This telescope is equatorially mounted, and located where it can be made available for the classes in astronomy. The college now has a prospect of crowning David Mountain -a steep and solitary hill, one hundred and twenty-five feet above surrounding territory, three hundred and ninety feet above tide water, its base within a stone's throw of the college - with an observatory furnished with a large telescope and other instruments of astronomical science.
In things essential to a full equipment of a college, Bates, of course, has not yet reached a limit. It is glad to be able to point to Hedge Laboratory, just completed, a brick building 36 x 58 feet, two stories high, finished to the roof, as evidence of progress in supplying the facilities for instruction.
THE INSTRUCTORS AND INSTRUCTION. - The branches taught in the college may be grouped under the following heads: classics, mathematics, modern languages, English literature and rhetoric, political economy and the various branches of science, psychology, logic and Christian evidences. The gymnasium, not the university, is taken for a model. On the question of extensive modifications of the old curriculum under which earlier New England colleges, not to speak of those abroad, have won their reputation for discipline and scholarship, Bates, in part by necessity, but more by preference, is inclined to be conservative. A technical course of study pursued after graduation from college, when the mind has been broadened, disciplined, and furnished with the groundwork of knowledge, gives promise of yielding the best results. If the business of life is to shut the student up to one special line of studies, not too early let him turn aside from all other departments of learning. Of no branch of study in the curriculum of Bates would a liberally educated man willingly be ignorant. Even in America life is not too short for one to lay, in youth, a proper foundation for his future work.
In the classics, the instruction at Bates aims to secure accuracy and smoothness of translation, and to bring the student to feel the force and beauty of the ancient languages. Special weight is attached to a correct knowledge and application of the grammar as one of the surest means of sharpening the power of discrimination and disciplining the judgment. This department, together with that of ornithology, is in charge of Professor Stanton, who has been a member of the faculty since the opening of the college. Professor Stanton is a graduate of Bowdoin, and of Andover Theological Seminary, and has also studied abroad.
Mathematics are continued through two years, concluding with calculus, except as French is chosen in place of it. The only option in the course is between these two studies. Instruction in this department since 1876 has
HEDCE LABORATORY
HIEDGE LABORATORY, BATES COLLEGE.
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been given by Professor Rand. Professor Rand was a member of the first class graduated by the college, and left a reputation for aptitude in this branch of study that secured his call to this chair.
French is taught five hours a week through the sophomore year; German, the same number of hours through the junior year, and also one hour a day, once a week, for one term of the senior year. The limited time allowed to these languages compels the instruction to favor acquaintance either with the written or the spoken tongue. If four years in a foreign land are essential for acquiring the art of correct conversation in its language, it would seem to be wise in college to devote the time given to French and German primarily to the study of the grammar and the literature. Hence, in this department, Professor Angell, without overlooking conversation, follows this line of instruction, drilling his classes thoroughly in the grammar, and introducing them to some of the best works of the best authors. Professor Angell is a graduate of Brown, for several years was the principal of Lapham Institute, and has studied for his department in France and Germany.
English literature and rhetoric receive special attention at Bates. Instruc- tion in these branches is given during some part of each of the four years. By text-book and lectures on the part of the instructor, and by essays and criticisms on the part of the students, the theory and practice of rhetoric are combined. The origin, development, and character of English speech and literature are fully enough treated to exempt Bates from the charge frequently made that our higher institutions neglect the mother-tongue. In the absence of any direct instruction in history, Professor Chase aims to assign historical events and characters as the subjects of essays and criticisms, and to send his students to the library for historical investigation, and thus, in a measure, to supply the defect until the chair in history is filled. Professor Chase is the youngest of the professors, an alumnus of the college, of the class of 1868. He specially fitted for this department by a post-graduate course at Harvard. He is now traveling in Europe.
Scientific studies and political economy were taught by the lamented Pro- fessor R. C. Stanley from the time of his coming into the college, in 1865, until his death, August 5, 1889. They are now in charge of Professor W. H. Harts- horn, who is ably sustaining the reputation given this department by his pred- ecessor. The course in chemistry has recently been enlarged in the direction of more laboratory work. Professor L. G. Jordan, of the class of 1870, was elected to this department in June, 1889. The other subjects taught under the head of science -astronomy, geology, botany, ornithology, physics, zoology, biology - are carried far enough to give the student an intelligent acquaintance with them, and to prepare him for further study. Five hours a week, for a term, are devoted to each of these branches except ornithology, and for two terms to physics. Bates takes special pride in its instruction in ornithology as one of
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its peculiar features. Possessing the best private collection of Maine birds in the state, Professor Stanton brings to this, his favorite side-study, the results of wide investigation. By lectures, illustrated with specimens from his own or the college collection, and also by accompanying his elass into the haunts of living birds, he leads the students to take a deep interest in this somewhat neglected, yet fascinating branch of study.
Christian in foundation and in character, the college regards moral philos- ophy, psychology, and Christian evidences as studies of first importance for all liberally educated minds. These subjects are taught by text-books, lectures, and the investigation of assigned topics, and the preparation of papers upon them by the class. Questions related to these topics are given to the class to answer by the aid of their own reading and thought. The work in this department falls to the senior year, and is in the hands of Professor Hayes. Coming to the college after five years' service as a pastor, and after several years of teaching the higher branches of study, Professor Hayes had a double preparation for his department. He is a graduate of Bowdoin and of the Free Baptist Theological School, and has studied in Germany. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Hillsdale.
In the faculty of both departments four colleges are represented. Two of the professors are graduates of Dartmouth, four of Bowdoin, two of Brown, and four of Bates. Five of the faculty have supplemented their college and professional courses by study abroad. From the first the faculty of Bates have been a working corps. In the youth and poverty of the college, the character of its instruction has been its main reliance for attractiveness and growth. Regarding themselves as stewards of the bounty and the sacrifices of many, and their work as a sacred trust received from the patrons of the college, the faculty have brought to pass far greater results than the most sanguine friends of the college at first anticipated.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES. I. Co-Education. - It was comparatively easy for Bates to lead the way, in New England, in offering college privileges to young women on the same terms as to young men. For in the seminary, out of which the college sprung, both sexes studied together through all the course. Why prolonging the course for one year, or for four years, should involve a necessity of separating the sexes, the trustees failed to see. Before their eyes and under their superintendence the principle of co-education had been put to the test; for them to abandon it in the college, in the absence of any fundamental difference in the situation presenting a solid reason for a change of policy, would be plainly inconsistent. Besides, here was an open field for the new college to. cultivate with the prospect of large returns. Bates, therefore, determined to introduce the innovation and fearlessly flung open its doors to all. This step was taken in advance of any popular demand, but not in advance of public need.
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At the opening of the college course, several young ladies, who had pursued the preparatory studies in the seminary, matriculated, and kept along with the class through two or three years, but none continued until graduation. Miss Maria W. Mitchell, of the class of 1869, has the distinction of being the first lady graduate of any New England college. Her example was slowly influential. It was not until her senior year that she saw another of her sex in college. The number of ladies graduating thus far has been fifty-four, distributed thus: 1869, 1; 1872, 1; 1877, 2; 1880, 2; 1881, 1; 1882, 2; 1883, 2; 1884, 5; 1886, 1; 1887, 5; 1888, 5; 1889, 7; 1890, 7; 1891, 13. There are now forty-eight young ladies in college. The novelty of their presence and of their equal participation in all college exercises long since wore away, and has ceased to excite comment. The sight of them in college is as pleasant and natural as in church. Some superior love of learning and earnestness of purpose unite in such young ladies as are intent on having a college education. Thus a principle of selection operates to secure among them a high average of ability; and this explains how it is that college honors have fallen to them out of all proportion to their numbers. It is the rule rather than the exception for them to reach oration rank. Three times they have won the valedictory and twice the salutatory. In one class, containing only two young ladies, they divided these honors between them. Study has not been detrimental to their health. The regular habits of college life, taken in connection with the prescribed course of gymnastics, tend to improve rather than to impair their health. In all matters of college discipline they are an aid to good order, and have themselves never given any occasion for rebuke. As their numbers have increased, the inclination of the students to cultivate unduly the social instinct has attracted the attention of the faculty, and been guarded against. Co-education, as tried at Bates, has proved a success.
II. Open Societies .- Among the earliest enactments of the college gov- ernment was a law declaring that "On no condition shall a secret society be organized or be allowed to exist." Petitions to the trustees from time to time for the abrogation of this law have been unavailing. The experience of American colleges has demonstrated that they must choose between secret or open societies. Both do not flourish. Bates prefers the latter as avoiding ex- pense, securing the best literary returns, shutting out the temptations incident to secret meetings of students at late hours of night, and as leaving open to all members of the college, and especially of each class, the acquaintance and good-fellowship usually pledged, if not confined, to the few members of a fraternity. One of the superior advantages of small colleges lies in their ability to give students opportunities for the forensic training cultivated by open societies. The Eurosophian and Polymnian societies maintain separate rooms in Hathorn Hall, each society having a library of about 800 volumes apiece. In their respective rooms they hold weekly meetings on Friday night,
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and once a year have a more public meeting in the chapel. As members from the freshman class are secured according to the comparative merits of the exercises, a healthful rivalry develops a healthful exertion to excel. It cannot but be that in meetings where papers are read, declamations rendered, ques- tions on various subjects discussed and criticisms passed, the literary taste and forensic skill of the members should steadily improve.
III. Needy Students Helped .- No better proof of the design of the college to keep its expenses within the reach of poor students could be given than that shown in its refusal to obtain relief from its financial distress by raising the tuition to an equality with that charged in other colleges. "Many a country lad," said one of the trustees in discussing a proposition to raise the tuition, "is influenced in his choice of a college by a difference of five dollars in the tuition." In addition to the help thus offered needy students, the college has twenty-five scholarships and the state ten, giving free tuition to deserving applicants. A still greater advantage in this direction results from arranging the college calendar with a view to have vacations favor the students in earning money. Beginning the last week in August the fall term runs to the Friday before Thanksgiving. The college is then suspended for six weeks to allow for teaching winter schools, a privilege made use of to such an extent that two-thirds of the young men, during this vacation, may be found scattered over New England engaged in this work. Thus New England reaps some reward for whatever aid it has in any way given the college. Teaching, too, has other than pecuniary rewards for the student, bringing him more fully into sympathy with college methods and requirements, and quickening his grasp on the studies pursued. It also prepares him, on leaving college, to obtain at once a permanent situation as a teacher. Undoubtedly the expla- nation of the fact that so large a per cent. of the alumni make teaching their life-work may be found here. The money earned in the summer and winter vacations frequently enables economical students to meet all their college bills; and, if by this means their time has to be taken from reading and the pursuits of general culture, and be given to things not always intellectual, these students receive some valuable compensations in the self- reliance, energy, and perseverance, coming into character as the result of their exertions.
IV. Forensics .- The system of public debates, established at Bates, is a peculiar feature of the institution, and one of very high merit. During the freshman year the class is divided into groups of six or eight, and each group is given a question for public discussion at the close of the fall term of the sophomore year. When the debate comes off each disputant is allowed to speak twenty minutes, and to read his argument or deliver it from memory. The discussion takes place in the presence of the students and their friends, before a committee selected by the speakers, usually chosen from the senior
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