USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > A centennial history, 1837-1937, Colby Academy, Colby Junior College > Part 26
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Colby, and Greenwood families gave her a background of knowledge regarding the school, and her years of per- sonal relation to it made the choice an ideal one. Only the other members of the Board and her closest friends know how great is her devotion and how many hours of service she renders to the college that she loves.
Lucy N. Shepard, class of '90, was appointed to teach English and to serve as librarian in 1891. Trained as an expert in public reading, she was equipped to strengthen the work in English, but the Burpee homestead had a male member of the household who went a-wooing, and Miss Shepard became Mrs. Wilfred Burpee. Her home in Manchester has been a center of interest and hos- pitality for Colby alumni through all the subsequent years.
Among the teachers who rallied to the support of Colby in the days of its greatest decline was Henry J. Hall, who remained at Colby eight years and saved the scientific reputation of the school which it had acquired under Peaslee and Griffin. He was an alumnus of Brown University, and for a time was on the faculty there as a member of the department of philosophy. With the mind of a scholar he made research into the problems of philosophy and made original discovery in the field of psychology. Not limited to the field of his special in- terest but keen to make improvements in whatever de- partment of education claimed him, he turned with facility to the sciences, and it very soon became under- stood that that department at Colby would be main- tained at its former standards. Mr. Hall was able also to make close personal contacts with certain of the boys for their lasting good.
Nathaniel W. Colby stood by the sinking ship in 1899 . and remained in charge of the commercial department during the Mckean administration. Among the young teachers whom Mr. Wellman brought to the hill was
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Webster Chester, who remained at Colby for only a year; his abilities carried him later to the professorship of biology at Colby College. Another recruit was Arthur L. Field, a Vermont boy and a graduate of Colby College with high honors who came to the academy in 1905 to teach Greek and Latin, and later became a teacher at Hebron Academy. Arthur L. Young, Brown 1904, came to Colby after a year of teaching science at Trinity Hall, Washington, D. C. He taught science at New London and went later to Connecticut where he became a school superintendent.
Among the teachers who served at Colby a few years later were two who left their mark upon the school, Millicent L. Swaffield and Isabel U. Esten. Both were daughters of Baptist ministers well known in New Eng- land, and they had caught in the parsonage a vision of what Christian service could be. Both went on after a few years to larger responsibilities, Miss Swaffield filling the position of lady principal of Vermont Academy and Miss Esten becoming dean of the state normal school at Keene. M. Roy London served his New London appren- ticeship with Mr. Wellman and returned years later to build up the commercial department in the junior college.
The faculty that gathered around Mr. Sawyer after his coming was almost entirely new, except for the con- tinuance of Miss Gay as preceptress. Mr. Sawyer him- self taught economics and psychology. Thomas O. Parker was in charge of the science department. He was a Cushing Academy boy and a graduate of Dartmouth in the class of 1909, and taught in secondary schools in Kentucky, Delaware and New Hampshire, besides hav- ing several years of business experience. He was there- fore more mature than most of the teachers who came to the hill. He was not only popular among the students, but he proved to have unusual ability to recruit students
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during the process of transition to the junior college. Walter T. Moreland was a graduate of the academy in 1918. Colby College gave him further training, and he returned to the hill to take charge of the department of mathematics. He too made the transition to the junior college, and already has completed a term of service which is long enough to place him in the company of Knight and Shattuck and Wellman, Miss Gay and Miss Smiley, and Dr. Sawyer himself.
Time would fail to tell of other teachers who belong on the roll of Colby's elect. Are they not inscribed in the records of the trustees and listed in the printed cata- logues of the institution? Some of them are written in the memories and on the hearts of those who are grate- ful to them for their influence in the years when it was easy to mar or to make character. More than one hun- dred and seventy-five men and women were on the faculty roll during the seventy-five years between the reorganization in 1853 and the origin of the junior col- lege in 1928. Knight and Shattuck have the longest record of service, eighteen years each. Eleven taught terms of ten years or more, and thirty-two others re- mained from five to ten years each. But even though many were but ships that pass in the night, they spoke to others in passing, and only slowly did their wake vanish into the measureless sea.
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LITERARY SOCIETIES
L' I IKE other American schools and colleges Colby Academy supplies other means of education than its classrooms and laboratories. Some of these date from the early days, others came into vogue only as school customs everywhere gave them sanction. At the time of the reorganization in 1853 it was a general custom in educational institutions for students to organize literary societies which should encourage writing and public debate so that boys and girls should be able to express themselves with ease and conviction. It was the fashion in very many cases to give these societies names of classic derivation; in other cases titles which symbolized school friendship or regard for the school or state.
Among the old Colby records that have come down from the middle of the nineteenth century are the minutes kept by the Euphemian Association. Many of these minutes are in immature handwriting. The parlia- mentary procedure that was followed was not always according to Cushing's Manual or Roberts's Rules of Order, but there was an earnest effort to wrestle with political and moral issues that were of importance to the country, and even if the boys did not know all the facts and suffered from prejudice they learned by their mis- takes, developed ability to think on their feet and to hold their own in discussions, and grew intellectually through the effort that they made.
The Euphemians had as rivals the United Friends. There is no reason to think that one organization re- 346
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quired qualifications for membership different from the other, or conducted its affairs with a different purpose or method. The records of the United Friends have dis- appeared but programmes of their public meetings are extant which show that they were busily engaged with the same ends in view.
The time came when it seemed wise to combine forces and out of the union resulted the Philalethian Literary Association. The increased strength due to the union was offset partly by the sense of loss of loyalty to that which was gone, but the Philalethians preserved their existence for several decades. The time came when certain students felt that they were not getting enough practice in so large an organization and they brought smaller groups into existence, such as the Epsilon Pi Delta, a Greek letter society in imitation of college cus- tom, and the Granite Debating Society.
Similar to the organizations of the young men, but with a distinctly more literary flavor, were the societies of the young women. Why should they debate public questions? They could not vote or go to Congress. But they could write genteelly and artistically. They could even slip into rhythmic verse. The earliest girls' society had the rather high-sounding title of the Ladies' Literary and Missionary Association. It had the twofold aim of cultivating mental effort and religious interest. The young women took as their Latin motto "Alterum al- terius auxilio eget." After a time it became clear that the two interests would be served better by having two organizations. The Literary Association continued for many years to serve the needs of all the girls, until a few of them too got together and organized a select society with the German name of D. G. V. Gesellschaft, keeping secret the significance of the three initials, a rather un- necessary precaution, since few of the students would have been able to translate them if they had been spelled
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out. The life of the Gesellschaft, like that of the con- temporary boys' novelties, was short. About the end of the nineteenth century the Euphorbian Society was brought into existence. Perhaps the girls wanted their share of Greek nomenclature. The organization was short-lived.
It was on the fourteenth of September, 1853, that thirty young men met in the "gents' hall of the Acad- emy" and formed the Euphemian Association. Andrew J. Sargent was chosen chairman of the meeting and Adoniram J. Gordon was made secretary. A committee of three was chosen to select a name; the name was de- cided on at the third meeting of the new organization. The officers customary to such associations were elected, with Emery, Sargent and Brickett as directors. Appoint- ments were made promptly for the first literary meeting, and it was voted that the usual meetings should be private.
On the first literary evening there were eight declama- tions, a popular form of entertainment and practice, four dissertations were read, and a debate was presented by two on each side. The question discussed was one that doubtless appealed to all the members: "Resolved, That more useful information is gained from observa- tion than from books." At the business session Principal Gardner received a vote of thanks for a copy of Cushing's Manual presented to the Association. It was decided that the next meeting of the society should be open to the public, doubtless to satisfy the curiosity of outsiders. A committee of three was appointed to draw up by-laws with regard to the appointment of critics and a corres- ponding secretary. Censors were instructed to buy books and lamps for the society. It was one object of the or- ganization to accumulate a library and a committee had charge of making plans for a reading-room.
Meetings were held weekly with the admittance of
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members only and from time to time public meetings were held at which a paper was read. At the first meet- ing in October the Euphemians appointed a committee of three "to consult the ladies with regard to a paper," and a week later it was voted to invite the ladies to read a paper the next evening. Apparently the Ladies' Liter- ary and Missionary Association had looked kindly upon the invitation of the three young men. At the next meet- ing a vote of thanks was passed for the paper.
Here and there in the records are items that are amus- ing, though the boys probably did not appreciate the humor of the situation. They decided to have a list of honorary members, and elected Reverend Ebenezer Dodge, the pastor of the local church, as the first to be so honored. Professor Knight was the second to receive the distinction, and then Governor Anthony Colby. One wonders why a number of ministers from neighboring towns should have been included, until it appears that they were to be solicited for funds for the library and reading-room. The members of the Society were very ready to nominate honorary candidates, but since it cost considerable money to convey a notice of the honor by mail, it was voted that "any member who shall nomi- nate a person to become an honorary member of this society shall pay the postage on the note informing him of his nomination." Sixty honorary members were voted in during the first year; one of them was Horace Mann, the eminent Massachusetts educator, and another was President Wayland of Brown University.
To make it plain who it was that belonged to the Society badges were provided at a cost of nineteen cents each to be worn on the left breast. A committee of two designed the badges and probably collected the money. Reverend S. W. Miles of Meriden was asked to deliver an address before the society; the records do not state whether oats were provided for his horse or he was paid
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an honorarium, but an item states that an assessment was made to square all the bills of the Association.
Elaborate provision was made for a public meeting in November in the town hall. A committee of three was made responsible for decorating the hall, and two marshals were appointed to reserve seats for the students, to inform the ladies that the societies would meet in the chapel fifteen minutes beforehand, and to direct the march decorously to the town hall. Students took them- selves very seriously in those days. Along in January it was voted that a critic be chosen every month to criticize "grammatical construction, pronunciation and gestures," and it proved wise to select one of the teachers to serve in that capacity, since none of the boys was sufficiently competent. About the same time it was decided to have a bulletin board for notices of society events.
The story of the year 1855 includes an auction sale of accumulated newspapers, which brought five dollars. At the meetings debates were favored, and every mem- ber must take his part. Two members suffered expul- sion because of unfaithfulness. Rules and regulations were numerous. One such was the rule that all mem- bers should rise during the customary opening prayer. Several enactments reveal the nature of legislation. It was voted "to appropriate one of the 'draws' of the reading-room for the archives of the President," voted again "to 'ware' our badges at the meeting and sit in body Thursday evening," "to meet in our old reading- room on Thursday evening at half a past 5 o'clock and march upstairs headed by our President." At one meet- ing an impromptu speech was made on "Female In- fluences" and two stump speakers discussed the benefits derived from association with the ladies; it must have been effective in utterance, for the next week the Associa- tion voted "to lend lamps to the Literary and Missionary Association on Thursday evening." They even voted
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to present the ladies with a frame in which to put the regulations of their reading-room. The spirit of rivalry with the other men's organization was so strong that it was voted that any person expelled from the United Friends should not be admitted to membership among the Euphemians, but they accepted an invitation to attend a public meeting of the United Friends. They de- bated whether emulation was a proper subject of appeal to study by any of the teachers.
The members obtained permission for the society to attend a "political" at the town hall, and later resolved that no American citizen is obliged to obey any law which he conscientiously believes to be wrong. Those were the days of the Kansas Crusade and the Dred Scott decision regarding the Fugitive Slave Law. Colby boys believed evidently in a higher law than did Chief Jus- tice Taney. Members debated whether circumstances indicated a long continuance of American slavery. The corresponding secretary was instructed to see that the Richmond Enquirer be discontinued.
It was customary at joint public meetings of the men's and women's societies for the gentlemen to debate and the ladies to read an issue of the Clematis, a paper that was started back in the old New London Academy, but in mid-July of 1856 the ladies refused to furnish one any longer. It would be interesting to know whether they ran out of ideas or the midsummer term was unusually warm. The Euphemians did not hesitate to order six hundred copies printed of the next public programme, but the order must have drained the treasury dry, since they had to borrow money to print two hundred copies of their constitution. They debated on the question, "Re- solved, That public amusements do not exert beneficial influences on society," but that did not prevent their enjoying C. H. Smith's appearance before their own society when he "entertained the audience by reading
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from his sheet some very interesting and didactic pieces." Two of the boys "talked on peanuts," and some years later another named Smith gave an impromptu on "a genteel way to eat peanuts." Former members who had graduated were invited to send their photographs to be put up on the walls of the reading-room.
The Civil War came and passed. Some of the boys who had discussed slavery fought against it on the battle- field, and their Euphemian successors resolved in de- bate "that the South did not show itself equal to the North in courage, generalship and skill during the late war." Subjects of debate ranged from "Resolved, That the intellectual powers of young men should be cul- tivated in public rather than those of the young ladies," to "Resolved, That Mahometanism was a better form of religion than Romanism."
After a certain public meeting the Euphemians passed a vote of thanks to Mrs. Sargent for a "boquet" presented to the society. It was such an important matter that a committee of three was entrusted with the errand, and the committee drew up suitable resolutions which were to be printed and presented to the generous lady. At a private meeting the question was debated whether gambling is a more debasing sin than drinking. Neither offence seems to have been responsible for the breaking of the glass in one of the bookcases. A member agreed to "fix it free of charge to the Society." In gratitude equal to that expressed to the donor of the "boquet" the members accepted the offer on condition "that they could present him with a paper a foot long stating thanks, the above thanks to be written" by the librarian.
After an unbroken existence of twenty-five years the Euphemian Association voted itself out of existence. In spite of the long separate existence of both men's societies it was felt that the time had come for a union of forces. The proposal to disband aroused an animated
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discussion and the Euphemians were not willing to vote to unite the two societies, but they reached a decision to disband their own organization and unite with "those who were formerly members of the United Friends Society" in forming a new society, and that the directors of the Euphemians be delegated to receive and hold in trust all the assets of the society to be delivered "to a new society to be formed from the members of the two disbanded societies." Then the Euphemians went to the chapel where the members of the United Friends were waiting.
Before the United Friends had decided to disband they had held their last public meeting on a Tuesday evening in November. Their motto "Amicitia atque Scientia nostra Vincula" had inspired them for years, and though it was not enough to perpetuate the organiza- tion it held through the evening. After prayer and a chorus a salutatory on "The Benefits of Intellectual At- tainment" reminded the assembled company why the society existed. Then Fred Clement of New London declaimed "Rum's Maniac" in true temperance style. Somebody provided a piano solo, and Frank J. Peaslee gave a "select reading." A dissertation followed by H. Alonzo Baker of New London entitled "Encouragement to Noble Action." Three ladies helped out the boys with music, then George A. Pettigrew of Ludlow, Vermont, sang the swan song of the society in the columns of The Cresset, its official organ. It might seem as if that would serve for a goodbye, but the programme continued with piano solo and duet, a drama "The Circassian Slave," and a valedictory address by Edward M. Stanyan of Mil- ford on the erudite theme of "Palma non sine Pulvere." Tableaux were interspersed through the programme, and a quartette selection brought the exercises to a close.
The first steps towards organizing a new society were
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taken in the election of a committee of five to draw up a constitution and by-laws and to elect a name for the new society. Frank J. Peaslee was the chairman of the committee. A temporary board of directors was ap- pointed to steer the organization. The new society re- ceived the name of the Philalethian Literary Association. Taking as their motto the words "Quanti est sapere," the members proceeded to complete their organization. Their purpose was expressed in the Preamble to their constitution, which read "Whereas, the development of the mental powers, the acquisition of useful knowledge, and the cultivation of correct habits of thought and ac- tion, are objects which claim our earnest attention; and whereas, extemporaneous speaking and original com- position tend directly to the accomplishment of these objects, we, members of Colby Academy, do hereby form ourselves into a Literary Association for the above purposes, and agree to be governed by the following Constitution and By-Laws."
The Philalethian Association flourished from the be- ginning, commanding the loyalty of the boys generally. Its first annual reception was held in the hall of the Academy on a cold February evening, but Charles L. Page, as chairman of the committee of arrangements, had seen to it that everybody should be comfortable, and Batchelder's Orchestra was on hand to make the young- sters wish that they could dance. Guests were received at seven o'clock. Members were discouraged from negli- gence by the imposition of a fifty-cent fine if they did not attend and take their assigned parts. The activities of the society were engineered by three directors chosen every term, and were under the oversight of the faculty. It was an article of the By-Laws that "All criticisms in regard to the action of the teachers of the Institution shall be excluded from the columns of the paper," the
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Alethian, which was read at the public meetings of the society.
At the private meetings the exercises were similar to those of the earlier societies. Debates were popular, but there were restrictions. No question should be discussed "involving the tenets of any Protestant denomination or political party." The public meetings provided an op- portunity for the orators and essayists to shine brilliantly. At these meetings the members presented the Alethian, which sparkled with student wit and satire. Great was the applause over sallies directed towards fellow stu- dents, and still greater when the editors ventured pleas- antries about a teacher. The motto of the paper was:
"Pledged but to truth, to liberty and law; No favor sways us; no fear shall awe."
At the annual meeting students and townspeople both listened with appreciation to the addresses that carried with them the special honors of the year. These were the anniversary address before the society, the honorary oration with salutatory, and in the spring an address to the seniors by a member of the senior middle class. The members of the Philalethian Association exerted them- selves to win these coveted honors, and put their best efforts into their parts. Besides these addresses were the marshalships. All of the honors were decided in the society by majority vote.
The dues of the society were seventy-five cents a year, and there were special assessments for extraordinary ex- penses. A small income was received from funds. It was the policy of the society to invite occasional lecturers from out of town, and then they solicited contributions from the people of the town or sold tickets to defray expenses. In 1883 Mrs. Mary Livermore, leader of the woman suffrage movement, was invited to lecture "Con- cerning Husbands." A joint lecture course sustained by
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the Philalethians, the young women's society, and Wil- mot Grange was planned. In 1884 the lecture committee of the Philalethians reported that one hundred and thirty-one tickets were sold in New London and sixteen in Scytheville. The total receipts were one hundred and seventy dollars and nineteen cents, while the expenses amounted to one hundred and sixty-eight dollars and nineteen cents, leaving a balance of two dollars to be divided between the two societies. A concert was talked of, but the matter was dropped when it appeared that it would cost twenty dollars. The next year the Ladies' Literary Society challenged the Philalethians to a spell- ing match, and the boys accepted, but in their own as- sociation they debated whether women should be al- lowed to vote, and decided in the negative by a vote of nineteen to three. There must have been considerable excitement over a discussion of the advisability of in- viting the members of the Ladies' Society to be present at a private meeting of the Philalethians, for the secre- tary recorded thus: "Voted that the following motion and amendment be counted and placed on 'reckord.' Voted that we do not rescind the vote taken on January 16, 1889, relating to inviting the young ladies to attend our society meeting January 30, that we never rescind or reconsider this motion. Amendment that Mr. Rowley's motion shall never be reconsidered after this evening."
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