USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > Education in Indiana. An outline of the growth of the common school system, together with statements relating to the condition of secondary and higher education in the state and a brief history of the educational exhibit. Prepared for the Louisiana purchase exposition, held at Saint Louis, May 1 to November 30, 1904 > Part 34
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
496
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
The college does not enjoy the support of the state but depends upon the attendance of its students. The present attendance is ninety-four.
0. ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE, RENSSELAER.
This institution is situated near the city of Rensselaer, about 48 miles north of Lafayette, and 72 miles southeast of Chicago. The college was opened in 1891, and is incorporated under the laws of Indiana, with powers to confer degrees and academical honors. The first class graduated in 1896.
The main building presents a frontage of 325 feet, and has ample accommodations for 200 students. Spacious classrooms, recreation, cheerful refectories, fine reception rooms, a beautiful chapel, comfortable private rooms, airy dormitories, lavatories, bathrooms, a replete gymnasium, etc., form parts of this model establishment. A smaller building is devoted to the musical de- partment of the institution. A spacious music hall, eight practice rooms, besides apartments for the use of the military band and orchestra belong to this department.
The recreation grounds are extensive and afford every facility for beneficial and manly sports. The surrounding groves, lawns and the campus are very extensive and beautiful. According to the American Journal of Health, St. Joseph's "is an ideal board- ing school from the view point of the hygienist."
St. Joseph's college is exclusively a Catholic institution, founded and conducted by the fathers of the Society of the Most Precious Blood, a religions community engaged in educational and missionary work.
The board of trustees is composed of six persons, elected by the members of the community, in whom the ownership and con- trol of the college is vested. The president and other officers are appointed by the officials of this community. The faculty at present consists of thirteen professors and two assistants.
The college has three different courses of study, the collegiate, the normal and the commercial. For the completion of the normal and commercial courses a three years' attendance is re- quired ; for the completion of the classical or regular collegiate, six years, The degree of Bachelor of Arts is conferred on the
497
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
student who has successfully completed the collegiate course. To obtain this distinction he must pass satisfactory examinations in religion, logic, ethics, Latin, Greek, English literature, poetics, plane and spherical trigonometry, geometry, algebra, ancient and modern history.
A diploma is awarded to the students of the normal and com- mercial course for proficiency in religion, English, mathematics, pedagogy, physiology, United States history, physical geography, civil government. Bookkeeping, commercial law, mathematics, typewriting and stenography form the greater part of the com- mercial course.
Besides these branches there are many optional branches such as the principal modern languages, especially German and French : the sciences, astronomy, botany, physics, geology, and zoölogy.
A complete course of instruction in instrumental and vocal music is also included in the curriculum of the college. It in- cludes a thorough understanding and application of the principles of harmony and musical composition.
The institution is also equipped with a library of several thousand volumes, two reading-rooms and libraries for the stu- dents, a well-selected museum of curiosities as also the apparatus necessary for the science classes.
At present St. Joseph's college has an enrollment of 130. The college is supported entirely by the tuition fees of the students.
32-EDUCATION.
THIRD DIVISION. HIGHER EDUCATION.
.
(499)
I. UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES AND NORMAL SCHOOLS.
A. STATE INSTITUTIONS.
1. STATEMENT.
The first proposition looking toward an appropriation of public lands in the Northwest territory for the support of education was made June 5, 1783, when Col. Bland, of Virginia, moved in congress to divide the territory into districts suitable for pros- pective states, and for a reservation of lands for the founding of seminaries of learning.
On May 20, 1785, a law was enacted which provided that sec- tion 16 in every township should be reserved for the maintenance of public schools. This reservation marks the beginning of the pol- icy which, uniformly observed since then, has set aside one-thirty- sixth of the land in each new state for the maintenance of com- mon schools. This act of the continental congress may be looked upon as the beginning of state education in the west.
On July 23, 1787, two additional townships were gained for the state of Ohio, for the perpetual support of a university. The precedent here established gave Indiana an opportunity to claim a similar donation from congress, which she afterward obtained.
On March 26, 1804, congress passed an act providing for the sale of certain lands in the three districts-Detroit, Kaskaskia and Vincennes-"with the exception of the section numbered 16, which shall be reserved in each township for the support of schools within the same; also, of an entire township in each of the three described tracts of country or districts to be located by the secre- tary of the treasury for the use of a seminary of learning." On the 10th of October, the said secretary located township 2 south, range 11 cast, now in Gibson county, Indiana, for the above stated use.
(501)
502
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
By an act to provide for the admission of Indiana as a state into the union, congress provided, April 19, 1816, "that one entire township, which shall be designated by the president of the United States, in addition to the one heretofore reserved for that purpose, shall be reserved for the use of a seminary of learning to be appropriated solely to the use of such seminary, by the legislature of the state." The first general assembly of Indiana territory passed "an act to incorporate a university in the Indiana terri- tory." This act was approved November 29, 1806, and the insti- tution was then and is still known as Vincennes university. This was the first institution for higher learning within the limits of Indiana. To it was given the seminary township, as referred to above, and power was granted it to sell four thousand acres, to receive bequests, and to hold not exceeding one hundred thon- sand acres of land. The lottery method was at one time employed to raise funds for the support of the institution and to procure a library. Public sentiment condemned this policy, and it soon ceased to operate. In 1822 an act was passed by the general assembly for the practical confiscation of its land for the support of its new "state seminary" at Bloomington, and in 1824 the state formally declared the Vincennes institution extinct. This act provided for the sale of the seminary township in Gibson county and for the use of the money as a productive fund for the benefit of the state seminary, previously established at Bloom- ington.
The withdrawal of state care and attention from this early school is not fully explained. The removal of the capital; the carelessness of trustees and indifference of its friends; the rise of similar "academies" and "seminaries" in other portions of the state : and perhaps, political influence-all these worked adversely to the continuance of the school at Vincennes as a state insti- tution.
Notwithstanding the many reverses of this institution, its early history is an essential part of the history of higher education by the state. Its early life represents the first effort of the people toward a state university. Thus, in the wilderness, among hardy pioneers, before the state took its place in the Union, and years before any system of common schools for its people had birth,
503
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
the representatives of the people made provision for higher edu- cation.
a. INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON.
In accordance with section 2, article IX of the constitution of 1816, the general assembly, by an act passed and approved January 20, 1820, took the first definite step toward the estab- lishment of the Indiana university, and as a result the Indiana seminary was opened in May, 1824. Within three years it had made such progress in number of students and the general char- acter of its work that a board of visitors, appointed by the general assembly in 1827, recommended that the Indiana seminary be raised to the dignity of a college. On January 28, 1828, this recommendation was enacted into law. The continued growth and increasing importance of the institution led the general assem- bly, in 1838, to confer upon it the name and style of the Indiana university.
The board of trustees of the Indiana university is required to report biennially to the governor of the state, and to the super- intendent of public instruction whenever by him requested, on all matters relating to the university. The whole administration of the university is likewise open to the inspection of a board of visitors, composed of the governor, lieutenant-governor, speaker of the house of representatives, judges of the supreme court, and the superintendent of public instruction ; and all accounts of the university are regularly audited by the auditor of state. The president of the university also is ex-officio a member of the state board of education, a body which has general supervision of public education within the state.
Under the system authorized by the constitution and the laws of the state, instruction for the first eight years of school life is furnished in the grades, the next four in the high school, and the last four in the university.
The annual attendance prior to 1850 ranged from thirty-eight in 1841 to one hundred and fifteen in 1848. From 1850 to 1884 the smallest attendance in the university was forty-eight in 1853, the largest one hundred and ninety in 1881. The remarkable
501
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
growth in the last fifteen years is shown by the following five- year table :
ISSS. 275
1893. 572
1898.
1049
1903 .. 1469
Dr. William Lowe Bryan is president of the university. He is tenth in line of succession. In chronological order the list of presidents is as follows : Andrew Wylie, D. D., 1829-51 ; Alfred Ryors, D. D., 1852-53; William Mitchel Daily, D. D., LL. D., 1853-59; John Hiram Lathrop, LL. D., 1859-60; Cyrus Nutt, D. D., LL. D., 1860-75; Lemuel Moss, D. D., 1875-84; David Starr Jordan, Ph. D., LL. D., 1884-91; John Merle Coulter, Ph. D., LL. D., 1891-93; Joseph Swain, M. S., LL. D., 1893- 1902; William Lowe Bryan, Ph. D., since 1902.
Admission to the university was, until the college year 1868-69, restricted to men, but by a resolution of the board of trustees the doors of the university were at the beginning of that year opened to women on the same terms. Since 1869, therefore, the university has been co-educational in all its departments. Of the fourteen hundred and sixty-nine students in Indiana uni- versity last year, nine hundred and nine were men and five hundred and sixty were women.
Indiana university was one of the first educational institutions of the country to adopt the elective course of study. This system is designed to secure a fundamental uniformity in the work of all students, and at the same time be flexible and adaptable to the needs of individuals. An equal amount of preparation for admission is required of all students-all must take a group of similar prescribed studies, all must follow some special line of study during three or four years. All students meeting the uni- versity requirements receive the degree of bachelor of arts. At the same time the student is granted great freedom in the selec- tion of his studies, the educational value of the element of per- sonal choice being fully recognized.
The board of trustees is composed of eight members, five of whom are selected by the state board of education, and three by the alumni of the institution. The officers of the board are a president, secretary and treasurer.
505
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
There are seventy-one members of the faculty who were edu- cated in sixty of the leading institutions of America and Europe. Exclusive of the school of law and the school of medicine, there are nineteen departments, as follows: Greek, Latin, Romance lan- guages, German, English, history and political science, philosophy, economics and social science, pedagogy, mathematics, mechanics and astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology and geography, zool- ogy, botany, fine arts, musie and physical training.
The first site of the university adjoined the town on the south. This site lay in Perry township, the township granted by congress in 1816 for seminary purposes. Here in a temporary structure was opened in 1824 what was called the state seminary, the style being changed to Indiana college in 1828 and to Indiana uni- versity in 1838. In 1836 a more pretentious building was erected, which was destroyed by fire in 1854, with its valuable contents in the form of libraries and collections. The friends of the uni- versity then rallied to its aid, and another and better building was erected. This building, one of the most picturesque in Bloom- ington, is now known as the old college. It was purchased in 1897 by the board of education of the city of Bloomington, and is occupied by the Bloomington high school. In 1874 a second larger building, of similar design to the old college, was erected for the libraries and museum. In a second fire, in 1883, this building, with all its contents, was destroyed.
The fire of 1883 marked a turning point in the history of the institution. It was decided to remove the university to a more ample site and one away from the noise and disturbance of the railway. For this purpose the tract known as Dunn's woods, east of the city of Bloomington, was purchased. Including later purchases, the campus now has an extent of about fifty aeres. The campus proper is well wooded and of a rolling na- ture ; a portion of the remainder is more level, and is used for the athletic field and for tennis courts.
The campus is cared for by an experienced gardener, who, under the direction of the department of botany, has set out many rare plants, shrubs and trees. The chief university buildings form an L on the crest of the campus proper, the longer line of the L overlooking the town to the west. The chief buildings, beginning with the one nearest the city, are: Maxwell hall,
506
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
erected in 1890; Owen hall, 1884; Wylie hall, 1884; Kirkwood hall, 1894; Science hall, 1902. Other buildings are: Mitchell hall. 1884; Kirkwood observatory, 1900; the men's gymnasium, 1896; the power house, and the old gymnasium.
Maxwell hall, which forms the north side of the L, is named for Dr. David H. Maxwell, one of the most energetic promoters of the state seminary and a life-long friend of the university in the three stages of its development, and for his son, Dr. James D. Maxwell, a member of the board of trustees from 1860 to 1892. The building is of white limestone and is fireproof. In architec- ture it is romanesque, with the characteristic grotesque and ara- besque ornaments of the style. Maxwell hall is used chiefly for the library and administrative offices. Quarters in the basement are occupied by the co-operative association and the woman's league.
Owen hall, a square brick building with pentice vestibule, is named for Richard Owen, the geologist, who was professor of natural science in Indiana university from 1862 to 1879. It is practically fireproof. Owen hall contains the collections in natural history, and quarters of the departments of zoology and botany. A greenhouse for the use of the department of botany has been erected in connection with this building.
Wylie hall (partially destroyed by fire February 7, 1900, but now entirely restored and increased by one story) is larger and more imposing than Owen hall. Like Owen it is built of brick, trimmed with stone. Dr. Andrew Wylie, the first president of Indiana university, and Professor Theopolis A. Wylie, the col- league of Professors Owen and Kirkwood, are worthily com- memorated in this building, erected in 1884. Wylie hall is devoted to chemistry (basement, first floor and part of second), mathematics (second floor), and law and the law library (third floor).
Kirkwood hall is the second largest building on the campus, and is built of white limestone. A romanesque portal surmounted by a massive square tower is the most striking feature of the facade. The building contains the rooms of the following de- partments: English (basement and first floor), economics and social science (basement and first floor), history and political science (first floor), Greek (second floor), Latin (second floor),
507
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
Romance languages (second floor), German (second floor), fine arts (third floor). The Christian associations also have quarters in the third story, while a women's waiting room is provided on the first floor.
Science hall was completed in 1902 and dedicated January 21, 1903, in connection with the exercises of foundation day and the installation of President Bryan. It stands at the tip of the L. Its interior construction is of brick, iron and con- erete, the exterior being of white limestone. It is fireproof, and is the largest building on the campus. It contains a basement and four stories, and is occupied by the following departments : Physics (basement and first floor), philosophy and psychology (second floor, third floor), pedagogy (second floor, third floor, fourth floor), geology and geography (third floor, fourth floor).
Mitchell hall, named for the Hon. James L. Mitchell, a grad- uate of 1858 and trustee from 1883 till his death in 1894, is a wooden structure cast of Science hall, and is at present used for the women's gymnasium.
Kirkwood observatory, situated southwest of Maxwell hall, is built of white limestone. It contains six rooms, including a circular dome room twenty-six feet in diameter. Both the observ- atory and Kirkwood hall are named in honor of Dr. Daniel Kirk- wood, one of the most eminent of America's astronomers, who was for many years a member of the faculty of the university.
The men's gymnasium was erected in 1896. It is a frame structure of modern design. In addition to its athletic uses, it . serves as an assembly room for the public exercises of the university ; when so used, the floor and gallery have a seating capacity of 1,600. The old gymnasium, north of Owen hall, is still used for practice games of various kinds.
Behind the men's gymnasium is the power house. From this central plant all the buildings, except Kirkwood observatory, are supplied with steam heat and electric light, and the laboratories of the departments of physics, chemistry and psychology with electricity.
In the tract of low ground lying northeast of Owen hall and the men's gymnasium is Jordan field, the athletic grounds-named in honor of David Starr Jordan, president of the university from 1884 to 1891. HIere a field for football and baseball has been
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
graded and a running track laid out; on the contiguous ground to the west are located a number of tennis courts for the use of the nen students. In the wooded ground on the south side of the campus, conveniently near to Mitchell hall, are two well-shaded courts for women.
The Indiana university biological station is located at Winona Lake, Indiana. The Winona Assembly has erected for the sta- tion two buildings, each 20x45 feet and two stories high. The tenth annual session will be held in 1904.
The funds of the university, in its earlier days, were derived ahnost wholly from the proceeds of the seminary lands, from gifts, and from fees paid by students. In 1867, by an act ap- proved March S, the general assembly provided for the increase of these funds by an animal appropriation. "Whereas," the act reads, "the endowment fund of the state university, located at Bloomington, Monroe county, is no longer sufficient to meet the growing wants of education and make said university efficient and useful; and whereas, it should be the pride of every citizen of Indiana to place the state university in the highest condition of usefulness and make it the crowning glory of our present great common school system, where education shall be free," therefore eight thousand dollars annually were appropriated out of the state treasury to the use of the university. This amount was found insufficient, and from time to time the amount of the annual appropriation was increased. In 1883, by an act approved March S, provision was made for a permanent endowment fund to be raised by the levy, for thirteen years, of a tax of "one-half of one cent on each one hundred dollars worth of taxable property in this state," to be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the Indiana university. In 1895 an act was passed (approved March S), levying an annual tax of "one-sixth of one mill on every dollar of taxable property in Indiana," the proceeds to be divided among the Indiana university, Purdue university, and the Indiana state normal school, in lieu of any further annual appropriations for maintenance. Of this amount the Indiana university received one-fifteenth of a mill on the taxable property in the state. By an act approved March 5, 1903, this law was amended, and Indiana university now receives one-tenth of a mill on every dollar of taxable property in the state.
509
EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
Indiana university is pre-eminently the institution of the peo- ple. It is the concrete example of the democracy described by President William Lowe Bryan in his inaugural address when he said :
"What the people need and demand is that their children shall have a chance-as good a chance as any other children in the world-to make the most of themselves, to rise in any and every occupation, including those occupations which require the most thorough training. What the people want is open paths from every corner of the state, through the schools, to the highest and best things which men can achieve. To make such paths, to make them open to the poorest and lead to the highest is the mission of democracy."
The rapid increase in the attendance is the best evidence that the university is fulfilling its mission. Worth and not wealth is the test applied in the class room and in society. Last year almost fourteen hundred of the sons and daughters of Indiana alone were in attendance. For the last five years every county in the state has been represented annually. The course of study keeps abreast of the times. Every honorable calling is ably represented by the graduates of the institution.
b. PURDUE UNIVERSITY-LAFAYETTE.
Purdue university, located at Lafayette, Ind., originated in the act of congress approved July 2, 1862, appropriating public lands to the various states for the purpose of aiding in the main- tenance of colleges for instruction in agriculture and the mechanic arts. The state of Indiana accepted the provisions of the act of congress by an act of legislature approved March 6, 1865, thus pro- viding for the establishment and maintenance of the institution. Two subsequent acts of congress for the further endowment of the institution have been formally accepted under the stated conditions by the legislature of the state, which has also fixed the name and location of the university.
From the first, the institution has been under the control of trustees appointed either by the legislature or the governor. These trustees, now nine in number, are responsible for all official acts, are subject to removal, and are in the strictest sense trustees of
510
EDUCATION IN INDLINA.
the state's interest. The property of the institution is held in the name of the state and can not be disposed of without legislation.
The plan and purpose of the university is to provide liberal instruction in those arts and sciences relating to the various industries, and to conduct investigation and disseminate informa- tion concerning the principles and applications of agricultural science. The scope and work of the university is fixed by law as set forth in the three acts of congress relating to the establishment of the institution as follows :
The act approved 1862, appropriating lands, states that-
"The leading objects shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and ineInding military tacties, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such man- ner as the legislatures of the states may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life."
The act approved 1887 appropriates $15,000 annually for the experiment station, and states --
"That in order to aid in acquiring and diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information on subjects connected with agriculture, and to promote scientific investigation and experiment respecting the principles and applications of agricultural science, there shall be established, etc."
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.