USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I > Part 73
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necessary cost and expenses of providing for and carrying forward in a thor- ough and efficient manner the teaching above named; and such other kindred branches of learning as the trustees of said institution should deem advisable, and to the payment of such other cost and expenses as might be necessary for the general uses and purposes of such an institution; and,
Whereas, the said Henry G. Abbey duly accepted the said trust so confided to him, and has, in conformity with his own obligations thereunder, caused this instrument and act to be prepared for execution by himself and his associates therein.
Now, therefore, we, J. H. Wade, Joseph Perkins, R. P. Ranney, H. B. Payne, Alva Bradley, Samuel Williamson, James J. Tracy, T. P. Handy, J. H. Devereux, Levi Kerr, W. S. Streator, James D. Cleveland, Reuben Hitchcock, E. B. Hale, and Henry G. Abbey, citizens of the State of Ohio, whose names are hereto subscribed and acknowledged, being desirous of becoming a body corporate under the laws of the State of Ohio, for the purposes herein stated, do make, enter into, and adopt the following
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION :
Article I. The name of this corporation shall be "The Case School of Applied Science."
Art. 2. The said corporation shall be located in the city of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and state of Ohio.
Art. 3. The purpose for which said corporation is formed is to receive a conveyance of the property described in the above-mentioned deeds; and by the use of the rents, issues, profits and proceeds thereof, organize, establish and maintain in said city of Cleveland, an institution of learning in conformity with the terms of the above-mentioned and recited trust, and to hold and apply for the same uses and purposes any other funds or property lawfully acquired by the corporation.
In witness whereof, we hereto affix our personal seals at Cleveland, Ohio, this 29th day of March, A. D. 1880.
JAMES D. CLEVELAND, [Seal.] R. P. RANNEY, [Seal.] LEVI KERR, [Seal.] REUBEN HITCHCOCK, [Seal.]
J. H. DEVEREUX, [Seal.] A. BRADLEY, [Seal.]
HENRY G. ABBEY, [Seal.] W. S. STREATOR, [Seal.] SAMUEL WILLIAMSON, [Seal.] T. P. HANDY, [Seal.] J. H. WADE, [Seal.]
E. B. HALE, [Seal.] H. B. PAYNE, [Seal.] JAMES J. TRACY, [Seal.] JOSEPH PERKINS, [Seal.]
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THE STATE OF OHIO, CUYAHOGA COUNTY, SS.
Before me, a Notary Public, in and for said county, personally appeared the above named J. H. Wade, Joseph Perkins, R. P. Ranney, H. B. Payne, Samuel Williamson, James J. Tracy, Alva Bradley, T. P. Handy, Levi Kerr, J. H. Devereux, W. S. Streator, J. D. Cleveland, Reuben Hitchcock, E. B. Hale and Henry G. Abbey, to me personally known to be the indentical persons who signed the above instrument, and each of them did thereupon acknowledge that he did sign and seal said instrument for the purposes therein expressed, and that the same is his free act and deed.
Witness my hand and official seal, at Cleveland, in said county, this 2d day of April, A. D. 1880.
JAMES PARMALEE,
[NOTARIAL SEAL.] Notary Public within and for said county.
THE STATE OF OHIO, CUYAHOGA COUNTY, SS.
I, William F. Hinman, clerk of the court of Common Pleas, a court of record of Cuyahoga county, aforesaid, do hereby certify that James Parmalee, before whom the annexed acknowledgments were taken, was, at the date thereof, a Notary Public in and for said county, duly authorized by the laws of Ohio to take the same, and that I am well acquainted with his handwriting, and believe his signature thereto is genuine.
In testimony whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name, and affix the seal of said court, at Cleveland, this 2d day of 'April, A. D. 1880.
WILBUR F. HINMAN, Clerk. [SEAL.]
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, OHIO, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
I, Milton Barnes, secretary of state of the state of Ohio, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the certificate of Incorporation of "The Case School of Applied Science," filed in this office on the 6th day of April, A. D. 1880, and recorded in volume 19, pages 345, etc., of the Records of In- corporations.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed the seal of the secretary of state of the state of Ohio, at Columbus, the 7th day of April, A. D. 1880. MILTON BARNES, [SEAL.]
Secretary of State.
In 1881, instruction was commenced in the Case homestead on Rockwell street, and continued there until 1885.
May 16, 1881, J. H. Wade, D. P. Eells and W. S. Streator, acting as trustees for a public fund with which to purchase a site for Case school and Adelbert college, conveyed to the former about twenty-five acres of original one hundred acre lot 402 on Euclid avenue, and the trustees of the school immediately began the erection of a building suitable for instruction and laboratories. The school was removed to it in September, 1885, when one half of the building was com- pleted. In October, 1886, the new building, together with most of the apparatus, was totally destroyed by fire. Through the generosity of the trustees of Adel-
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bert college, instruction was continued in their dormitory until September, 1888, at which time the main building was again ready for occupancy. In 1892, the chemical and mechanical laboratories were completed and occupied, and in 1895, the electrical laboratory was commenced and was finished and oc- cupied in 1896.
On May 13, 1895, Mrs. Laura Kerr Axtell, of Painesville, Ohio, deeded to the school a one-half interest in the lands which she and her brother, Levi Kerr, then recently deceased, inherited as part of the estate of Leonard Case, amount- ing in value at that time to over one hundred thousand dollars, upon the con- dition that "the said Grantee, the Case School of Applied Science, by the ac- ceptance of this deed, hereby undertakes and binds itself and its successors for- ever to maintain in an efficient and customary manner in said institution and as a part of its regular course of education, a Professorship of Mathematics, to be called and designated as the Kerr Professorship of Mathematics, and always to be supplied with one or more competent instructors in that branch of learning."
In her will, probated in. Lake county in 1890, Mrs. Axtell bequeathed the school the sum of fifty thousand dollars unconditionally, and the sum of one thousand dollars to be used in restoring the marble bust of Leonard Case, Sr., which was destroyed in the fire of the main building in 1886.
The first meeting of the incorporators was held in the old homestead, No. 7, Rockwell street, on April 22, 1880, with Mr. Reuben Hitchcock as chairman and Mr. James J. Tracy as secretary. The first board of trustees, consisting of Judge Rufus P. Ranney, Edwin B. Hale, Levi Kerr, James J. Tracy and Henry G. Abbey, was elected, and the following day the latter met and elected Judge Ran - ney president and Henry G. Abbey secretary and treasurer. As soon thereafter as practicable, a corps of professors was engaged and, acting under the advice of Dr. Benjamin A. Gould, of Harvard college, instruction was begun in the old home- stead in April, 1881, and continued there until quarters in the partially completed Main building could be provided in 1885. Dr. John N. Stockwell, the well known mathematical astronomer, and close associate of Leonard Case was appointed professor of mathematics; Dr. Albert A. Michelson, of the Naval academy, and already eminent in his profession, was appointed professor of physics; Arthur F. Taylor, a young man of fine promise; was made instructor in chemistry ; Dr. A. Vaillant, a well known French scholar, was given charge of instruction in French ; J. W. C. Duerr was made instructor in German ; and John Eisenman was made in- structor in civil engineering. These gentlemen were soon organized into a faculty, with Dr. Stockwell as the nominal head. In 1886 it was deemed wise to appoint a president of the faculty who would be responsible to the trustees in all matters pertaining to the government of the faculty and students, and accordingly on July 3, 1886, Dr. Cady Staley, professor of civil engineering at Union college, Schenec- tady, New York, was called to the presidency. He was forty-six years of age and was possessed with force and energy and already had established a record for efficiency as an educator.
Dr. Staley's character was soon put to the severest test, for upon the morning of October 27, 1886, the new building, with most of its equipment of apparatus, besides the personal equipment of the faculty, such as books and lectures, were destroyed by fire. This necessitated prompt action by the trustees, and the strong
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cooperation of the faculty. Adelbert college magnanimously offered the use of its buildings until new facilities could be provided. The use of their dormitory was accepted, and on Monday following the fire classes were resumed, steps taken to rebuild the Main building and to erect a temporary building for use as a chem- ical laboratory.
The spirit which animated the trustees, faculty and students is best described by a few extracts from a report of Dr. Staley's, made shortly after the loss.
President Staley says :- "The prompt action of the trustees in ordering the restoration of the burned structure, in building a laboratory for immediate use, and in procuring new apparatus and appliances for carrying on the work of in- struction, gave tone to all the affairs of the school. It left little uncertainty as to present policy or future results. It gave unmistakable evidence of the line of action which the trustees had adopted, and of their determination to push vigor- ously the interests of the school. It assured the community, which was so deeply interested, that no effort would be spared to make good the loss which had been sustained, and it encouraged the faculty to renewed effort to maintain the high standard of scholarship in the school.
"The losses sustained by several of the faculty were not only considerable in amount, but irreparable. With libraries, collected with much pains, and at a cost of many years' saving, went the lectures and notes representing years of work which can never be entirely replaced.
"Besides the direct pecuniary loss which this involved, there came the greatly increased labor of carrying on the work of instruction without the accustomed helps and appliances, and under less favorable circumstances in every way.
"I need only say that the course pursued by the professors was worthy of the men, and justified the choice which the trustees had made in selecting them for their important trusts. They took up their increased burdens with cheerfulness and enthusiasm and in the face of opposing circumstances carried the work of the school with energy and success.
"The spirit in which the student's met the common calamity deserves special recognition. Many of them lost books, instruments and notes, and all lost oppor- tunities for work and improvement. Our temporary quarters, good as they were, were not equal to what we had lost. A change in instruction was necessary, in- volving for a time more recitations and mes practical work. In short, some in- convenience and even discomfort was unavoidable. All this was met by the students with a spirit of self-sacrifice, and with a disposition to make the best of the situation."
The temporary chemical laboratory was ready for occupancy in February, 1887, and the basement and one story of the main building were finished in time for the opening of school in September, 1888. In the meantime several changes and additions had been made in the faculty and the curriculum broadened and strengthened.
Levi Kerr, one of the trustees and a cousin of the founder and administrator of his estate, was drowned in the St. John's river, near Palatka, Florida, in March, 1885, and his place was filled by the appointment of Judge James D. Cleveland. In April, 1887, the board was increased to seven by the election of George H.
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Warmington, of Cleveland, and the Hon. J. Twing Brooks, of Salem, Ohio. In June, 1887, Mr. Abbey died, and the vacancy was filled by the appointment of Dr. Worthy S. Streator. The position of secretary and treasurer made vacant was filled by the appointment of Mr. Eckstein Case, not a member of the board.
With the above gentlemen as trustees, all men of wide business experience, intimate friends and acquaintances of Leonard Case, the success of the school was assured. On May 6, 1889, Judge Ranney resigned as trustee and Judge Cleveland was elected president of the board in his stead. For ten years, until his death in June, 1899, he presided over its sessions with the conscientious wisdom character- istic of his life. To Judge Ranney and Judge Cleveland, both wisely conserva- tive, the school owes a deep debt of gratitude for their great work in leading it safely through the trials and errors which must necessarily arise in the plaicng of such an institution upon a firm foundation. Their's was no perfunctory attention to the duties incumbent upon them. They gave themselves and their time freely to the supervision of details and in cooperating with President Staley in strength- ening the courses of study and in increasing their number, and to this conscien- tiousness may largely be attributed the rapid growth of the school, both in efficiency and in the numbers of its students. In 1891 the crowded condition of the main building, then entirely finished, and the temporary chemical laboratory, necessitated the erection of a new chemical laboratory and a building for the mechanical engineering. In 1895 the advance made in the use of electricity compelled the erection of a separate building for electrical engineering. In 1904 Mr. John D. Rockefeller generously donated two hundred thousand dollars for physics and mining engineering laboratories, respectively. These were ready and equipped for occupancy by 1906. This growth from one old fashioned dwelling house, as a beginning, to six large and finely equipped separate buildings without impairment of the original endowment or the making of other than merely temporary loans, tells the story of the financial management of the school under the direction of its board of trustees.
The changes in the personnel of the board have been few, and these have been occasioned mainly by death. This is an indication of the personal interest taken in the affairs of the school unusual in boards of trustees.
In 1899, upon the death of Judge Cleveland, Mr. James J. Tracy, the close friend and associate of Leonard Cas and of his brother William, was elected president of the board. Owing, however, to advancing years, he resigned after a few months and Mr. John M. Henderson, the present incumbent, was elected in his place. Mr. Tracy is still a member of the board and occasionally attends its meetings although in his ninetieth year .*
Of the original members of the faculty, six in number, not one remains. In 1902 Dr. Staley resigned the presidency to devote his time to study and travel. Dr. Charles S. Howe, of the department of mathematics, was appointed, and un- der his able management the school has continued to progress. The faculty and instructors now number thirty-seven.
The graduates, nearly one thousand in number, all occupy lucrative positions and many of them positions of trust and great responsibility, and are scattered pretty much over the civilized world.
*Died January 4, 1910, aged ninety years, one month.
F
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
Thus, this institution, well within the limits of a generation, through the wise and conservative course pursued by its board of trustees and the high efficiency maintained by its faculty, has established a name and reputation in the educa- tional world which could not be otherwise than gratifying to the modest and retiring scholar who founded it.
CHAPTER LX.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
By John H. Clarke.
The beginning of the Public Library of Cleveland and its growth to its present large community usefulness, have been strikingly coincident with the development and growth of the great wave of library expansion which in the last half cen- tury swept over the world but over the United States in an intensified degree owing to the large and discriminating philanthropy of Mr. Andrew Carnegie.
The American Library Association was organized in 1876 and better than any other single event may be taken as the starting point of the turning of popu- lar interest in a large way, to the establishing of public libraries, and as the be- ginning of the introduction of the many and wise new methods of library ad- ministration which in the few years that have passed have placed beyond discus- sion the duty of the community to provide and maintain free libraries at the public expense as a part of the community educational system. The evolution of our local library and of the influence which it exerts upon the community are so typical of the recent country-wide, if not world-wide, library development by which the influence of the judiciously written book penetrates into every house- hold that I hope it may prove of interest to follow this local history briefly told as a part of this larger growth of one of the most important influences of our time making for the spread of intelligence among the people and thereby for the security and uplift of the nation.
The Cleveland Public Library, designated by law as the Cleveland Public School Library until 1883, was established by the Board of Education under the pro- vision of a state law passed by the General Assembly in March, 1867, and was formally dedicated to the public on the evening of February 17, 1869. Appro- priate addresses delivered by Mr. Edwin R. Perkins, president of the Board of Education, by Rev. Anson Smythe who had been instrumental in procuring the enactment of the law under which the library was established and by Hon. Stephen Buhrer, the mayor of the city, serve to show that the opening of the library was fully recognized by the leading men of the community as the im- portant event, 'vhich time has proved it to have been, in the life of the city. A rented room twenty by eighty feet in size on the third floor of the Northrop and Harrington block on the south side of Superior street just west of Seneca, now West Third street Northwest, served as the first home of the library for four years until in 1873 when it was removed to larger rooms in the Clark build-
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ing on Superior avenue, a short distance west of its original location. Here it remained until, like the renter that it was, in 1875 the library was again moved, this time into much more commodious quarters in the City Hall on Superior avenue between East Third street, Northeast, and East Sixth street, Northeast, where it occupied a series of connecting rooms on the second floor for the circu- lating department and offices, with a room on the third floor for the reference department, and a newspaper reading room on the first floor. This distribution on three floors shows that as yet the value of the library to the community was not fully appreciated or it would not have been thus pushed into otherwise un- occupied corners. Here the library remained only four years until, upon the completion of the new Central High School building, it was again moved in April, 1879, into the old high school building, which occupied the site on the south side of Euclid avenue, a short distance west of East Ninth street, North- east, which is now occupied by the building of the Citizens Savings and Trust Company. The Board of Education furnished the second floor of this building for the circulating department, and the librarian's office, and the third floor for the reference library, reading room, assembly room and offices of the library board. In these rooms the library continued for twenty-two years and here we shall see later on, it entered fully upon those progressive methods of adminis- tration which have made it the indispensable influence that it now is in the edu- cational life of this community. The sale of the old High School Building made a fourth removal necessary and in March, 1901, the books were stored until the following July when they were placed upon the shelves of the temporary library building at the corner of Rockwell and East Third street, Northeast, which has since been occupied and on August Ist the library was again opened to the public. In 1896 a law was passed authorizing the issue of bonds to the amount of $250,000. The constitutionality of this law was questioned and a suit was brought causing delay until in 1898 a decision of the supreme court established the validity of the act and in October of that year the bonds were sold for $295,250.00. The board of library trustees thereupon set actively about the selection of a site for the new library building, but before a decision was reached the suggestion of a com- prehensive plan for grouping all of the important public buildings of the city met with such cordial favor by the community in general that in January, 1899, the Board by unanimous vote expressed its approval of the plan and its desire to so cooperate with other boards and commissions of the city that the Central Library building should become one of the group. Owing to the pressing need of money for other municipal purposes this decision, wise though it was, involved a long and indefinite delay in securing a permanent building adequate to the library needs of the city.
To meet this unfortunate condition, as best it could, the Board of Trustees decided to build the temporary building before mentioned upon land furnished by the city, at the corner of Rockwell and East Third streets, Northeast, and it was in this building that the library was opened again for public use as we have stated on 'August 1, 1901. This building is of brick and stone and has two stories and a basement. It has eighty-two feet front on East Third street, Northeast, and one hundred and twenty-five feet on Rockwell street. The children's and newspaper reading room were placed in the basement, the circulating department
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and administrative offices on the main floor and the reference department and catalogue room on the second floor. It was thought that within five years as an extreme limit the new, permanent, building would be ready for occupancy and the temporary building was planned and erected with that limit in mind. It is now nine years since the building was first occupied with the result that it has long been hopelessly insufficient for pressing library needs. With the news- paper reading room and Library for the Blind in the Goodrich House two squares away, the repair department and bindery in a business block about the same distance in another direction, the accounting department occupying offices and the John G. White collection of Folklore now numbering over 10,000 vol- umes and rapidly growing with other valuable parts of the reference collection stored in the Society for Savings building, the patrons and employes are still so in- adequately provided with room that anything approaching full usefulness and effi- cient administration of the library is impossible and many of its resources are only partially valuable. The appeals for more room made year after year in their pub- lished reports, by the Librarian and his assistants, become all but pathetic, when the further delay which is inevitable before an adequate building can be provided, is considered, for as yet the only progress toward a new and permanent building consists in a resolution of the City Council dated April 8, 1907, determining that it shall be erected on the site now occupied by the City Hall on Superior avenue, Northeast, immediately east of the Federal building. By this action the Library Board is authorized to prepare plans such that the northerly part of the building may be erected first and the southerly or Superior avenue front when the com- pleting of a new City Hall shall enable the city to vacate the present City Hall building. Unfortunately the legal limit of municipal indebtedness being reached it has not been possible to carry out even this provisional arrangement. The aesthetic and other values of the grouping of the public buildings must needs be very great if only to compensate for the restriction upon the work and useful- ness of the library which has thus necessarily been caused by plans so far in excess of the present financial resources of the city.
No richer opportunity could be offered a large philanthropy to render useful service to a city than is presented in the opportunity to provide this central library building without which the usefulness of the library must be severely restricted for many years to come. The public library as administered under modern methods has become such an aid and supplement to the schools of the country, from the kindergarten to the university, that the appeal it now makes is and has been widely recognized to be as distinctly educational as that of the school or college, but save for the gifts of Mr. Carnegie for branch library uses, the public library of Cleveland has not received any but public aid other than in the form of gifts of books.
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