LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND THE ARTS
As the University grew, the first Faculty of two members gradually
increased, though for years the roster was far from impressive. What
this first Faculty lacked in numbers, however, it made up in character
and ability. One has only to read the whole-hearted and loving tributes
of early graduates to discern the powerful personalities which inspired
them. It is true that for the most part they were scholars of an older
school, content to hand on the classical learning of the contemporary
college course, rather than original investigators. But how well they
performed this task! They inspired a real enthusiasm and love of
knowledge for its own sake in those they taught, and furnished them, as
well, an ideal for right living--all for five hundred dollars a year. We
of a later generation cannot honor them too much.
About these men, strongly individualized in the minds of their students,
have clustered stories which have become almost classic. Sharply
contrasted in particular characteristics, they have lived as vivid
personalities for future college generations in the memories of those
students, "who studied syllogisms under the noble Whedon, who polished
Greek roots for the elegant Agnew, who bungled metaphysics to the
despair of the learned Ten Brook, who murdered chemistry under the
careful Douglas whose experiments never failed, and who calculated
eclipses of the moon from the desk of Williams, the paternal." This
characterization by a member of the class of '49 is paralleled in a
more caustic estimate of a somewhat later Faculty by a member of the
class of '65 who speaks of "Boise the precise, Frieze the effusive,
Williams the plausible, and White the thinker."
Always first in any reminiscences of the early days was Professor George
Palmer Williams, the first real member of the Faculty, always known to
his students as "Punky," possibly, as Professor D'Ooge suggested,
because of the "dryness of his wit." Freshmen were even known to address
him as "Professor Punky," only to be pardoned with a never to be
forgotten kindliness when they discovered their awful mistake. Professor
Williams was a graduate of Vermont (1825) and came to the University
from the Pontiac branch to take the Professorship of Natural Philosophy.
He was especially loved, not only for his fatherly kindness and genuine
sympathy that won the confidence of his students, but also because "the
college student pays unstinted admiration to a witty teacher, for no
teacher ever had more ready wit and such genuine humor." The Rev.
Theodoric R. Palmer of the class of '47, who for ten years was
Michigan's oldest graduate, told how Professor Williams on discovering a
goose occupying his chair remarked: "I see you have a competent
teacher," and wished the class "Good Morning," leaving them to discover
the point of their joke.
Professor Williams' strong religious spirit did not prevent an apt
employment of examples from the Scriptures on occasion, as his rebuke to
an overgrown and too active freshman showed: "Sir, you remind me of
Jeshurun; the Bible says 'Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.'" But in the
class room he was traditionally lenient. One student who found himself
unable to fit his carefully prepared notes and the examination
questions together, finally handed them both in and was passed, but only
because it was the "wrong year"; "I condition one every other year and
if I conditioned you I would have to have you again next year."
Professor Williams served the University long and faithfully, and only
resigned his active work in 1875. In 1876 the alumni established a
Williams Professorship Fund which eventually amounted to nearly $30,000.
This eased his last years until his death in 1881 at the age of 79
years. Although the fund was subsequently greatly lessened by very
careless administration, it now amounts to something over the original
sum and is administered by the Regents in the form of a retiring
allowance, the holder being nominated by the Alumni Association.
The Rev. Joseph Whiting, Yale, '23, under whose charge was the classical
training of the six youngsters of that first class, was a man of
different type. A fine scholar, he made Greek and Latin "glow with life
and beauty," and by his distinguished bearing formed a happy complement
to the "jovial and rotund" Williams. His death while he was serving his
term as the annual President just before the first class was graduated,
was recognized as a great loss by the students, as well as by the
Regents, who acknowledged "his urbanity and gentleness of manners," and
"his knowledge of character and other properties which especially fitted
him to act the part of a governor and counselor of youth."
Professor Douglass Houghton died during the same year, 1845. The
services of these two men, as well as those of Charles Fox, Professor of
Agriculture, and Dr. Samuel Denton of the first Medical Faculty, are
commemorated by the little weather-beaten monument with the broken
shaft, which has doubtless aroused the idle curiosity of thousands of
students, who have never taken the trouble, however, to decipher the
Latin inscriptions which set forth the life records of these early
professors.
In 1842 Dr. Abram Sager, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(1831), who later became the first Dean of the Medical Faculty, came to
the University as Professor of Zoölogy and Botany. He was then about
thirty-two years of age and had for some time been connected with the
State Geological Survey as botanist and zoölogist. His contributions to
the University while in that position formed the foundation of the
present zoölogical collection. One of his students speaks of him as "of
exceedingly sensitive mind and heart and of very high and pure
morality." A Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, the Rev.
Edward Thomson, Pennsylvania, '29, was appointed in 1843, but served
only one year. He was succeeded by the Rev. Andrew Ten Brook, Madison
University, '39, who took a vigorous part in the University's life until
his resignation in 1851, not to return until 1864 as Librarian--and
historian of the University's early days. Professor Ten Brook was of the
Baptist persuasion, exceedingly well read, particularly in the
literature of his chair. Ordinarily in his classes he was master of the
situation, "so long as he had Dugald Stewart's Metaphysics before him,"
but when discussion became free in his classes and "scholastics were let
loose" one of his thought students they "got a little the better of
him." That he was a shrewd and honest observer with remarkably little
personal prejudice--even in memories of trying times, is shown by his
book on "American State Universities" which offers much that is
fascinating to those interested in the first days of the University.
[Illustration: A GENERAL VIEW OF THE FRONT OF THE CAMPUS
Showing University Hall, including the old North Wing, with the Law
Building in the background]
In the same year Silas H. Douglas, M.D., who studied at the
University of Vermont, was appointed assistant to Dr. Douglass Houghton,
Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Zoölogy, who never took up the
active duties of his chair. Dr. Douglas speedily became one of the
"strong men" of the Faculty and created the Chemical Laboratory which
lent so much prestige to Michigan in its early years. He was of a
systematic and orderly temperament whose experiments before the class
always came out brilliantly. His careful business-like methods were
greatly appreciated by the Regents and he was entrusted with the
oversight of the construction of the South College when it was erected
in 1849. So successful was he that he saved some $4,000 over the cost of
the first building and had enough bricks left besides to build a large
part of the Medical Building which was completed in the same year. Those
who knew him best supported him loyally in the great dispute which arose
over his administration of the affairs of the Chemical Laboratory and
their confidence in his uprightness and sterling integrity was justified
by the final decision in that most unfortunate case.
These were the men who taught the first class that was graduated from
the University in 1845. The same year saw two additions to the Faculty,
the Rev. Daniel D. Whedon, Hamilton, '28, who was elected to the chair
of Logic, Rhetoric, and History, and Dr. John H. Agnew, Dickinson
College, '23, who assumed the Professorship in the classics left vacant
by the death of Dr. Whiting. Both had a prominent share in University
affairs for a few years. Professor Whedon was a Methodist clergyman,
lank and angular in form and feature with a "considerable sprinkling of
vinegar at times in his ways of expressing himself," but, according to
our oldest living graduate, "his commanding presence, imperative logic
and _sesquipedalia verba_, always used with mathematical precision,
hammered truth into us and clinched it." Professor Agnew has been
described as a Greek from head to foot, the exact opposite of Dr.
Whedon, extremely careful in his dress and appearance and
correspondingly neat and precise in the expression of his thoughts. He
represented the Presbyterian and Congregational element in the
University. The reasons for the resignation of these two Professors in
1852 have already been suggested in the lack of unity and the sectarian
rivalries of their time.
Perhaps the most picturesque figure of this early group was Louis
Fasquelle, the first Professor of Modern Languages, whose widely used
text-books contributed not a little to the prestige of the University.
When he came in 1846, his chair was almost a new field in an American
college. Only a single term in French was given at first and in fact
neither he nor Dr. Sager, charged with the scientific course, were
required to give their whole time to their university work for some
years. It is somewhat suggestive too, that both Spanish and Italian were
offered in the University before a course in German was announced in
1849. Professor Fasquelle was educated at the famous École Polytechnique
in Paris, but was obliged to leave France on account of his
participation in the revolutionary movement of that period. As Professor
in the University he proved "peculiar, but very learned and efficient."
The stories of his difficulty with the English language are many, and
most of the classic stories told of various members of the French
Faculty by successive student generations were originally told of him.
He was the first "infiddle," though he was always punctilious in
attendance at chapel, which he adjourned on one occasion because the
"praying Professor" did not appear. His "vocabul'-ary" was good, but in
the words of the time-honored song, "He went up on his emphas'-is."
The new régime of Dr. Tappan witnessed the establishment of a different
tradition. The former deference to denominational precedent was
definitely abandoned and increasing stress was laid upon scholarly as
well as personal qualifications. The new President took the chair of
philosophy left vacant by the resignation of Professor Ten Brook, while
the old chair of ancient languages was speedily divided. James R. Boise,
Brown, '40, who already enjoyed a growing reputation as a scholar,
became Professor of Greek, while the Rev. Erastus O. Haven, Wesleyan,
'42, afterward the second President, became Professor of Latin.
Professor Boise though of a delicate physique possessed great force and
impressed the students with the absolute necessity of getting their
Greek lessons, _ruat coelum_. His insistence on discipline and high
standards in recitations had a profound influence on the mental habits
of those in his classes. Professor D'Ooge, '62, his successor, remarks
of him that "probably no teacher of those days got so much downright
hard work out of his pupils." Alvah Bradish was also appointed to the
chair of Fine Arts at this time, but without compensation, and, though
he apparently lectured occasionally, the course soon disappeared from
the catalogues, not to be revived for fifty years. The name of the Rev.
Charles Fox also appears momentarily as a Professor of Agriculture, a
department also destined to quick extinction with his death in less than
a year, in spite of the President's best efforts, for the Legislature
had already taken the preliminary steps toward the establishment of a
College of Agriculture at Lansing.
The strength of President Tappan's policy is shown in the group of men
he appointed to Professorships--leaders as well as scholars. Among the
first was Alexander Winchell, Wesleyan, '47, whose versatility was shown
by the range of his teaching as well as by his long list of published
works. He came to Michigan in 1853 as Professor of Physics and Civil
Engineering, but within two years was transferred to the chair of
Geology, Zoölogy, and Botany, which he held until his resignation in
1873 to accept the Chancellorship of Syracuse University. He returned to
Michigan in 1879 as Professor of Geology and Paleontology, and ended his
days in Ann Arbor in 1891. With a personality vigorous and powerful, if
somewhat unyielding, he was always a factor in faculty affairs, though
he was not so happy in his relations with the students as some of his
colleagues and therefore does not figure so prominently in their
reminiscences. He has been described as a sober, earnest, eloquent,
sometimes shrewd and witty but very absent-minded, scholar whose
"beautiful and even eloquent language led many to an admiration and love
for sciences." His work on the Michigan Geological Survey of which he
was twice director, and his life-long effort for the reconciliation of
science with religion, brought wide recognition to the University.
A totally different personality was Dr. Henry Simmons Frieze, Brown,
'41, who came to Michigan the next year as Professor of Latin Language
and Literature, in place of Dr. Haven, who assumed the Professorship of
History and English Literature. No name on Michigan's long Faculty roll
has been more honored than his. He brought to the University not only
well-grounded ideals of true scholarship, but also a broad culture, not
too common in those days, and an inspiring interest in literature and
art which left a deep impression. It was such spirits as Dr. Tappan, Dr.
Frieze, and Andrew D. White, who was also of that early company, that
set for the University standards in academic life and ideals which have
never been lost, and which enabled Michigan to take her place with such
extraordinarily little delay as one of the country's great educational
forces. Unhampered by the formalism and traditions of the Eastern
universities of that time, these men found here an opportunity for the
establishment of the progressive methods of the better European
universities. The services of Dr. Frieze as Acting President for the two
years preceding President Angell's election are mentioned elsewhere. He
was once more called upon to be Acting President during the year Dr.
Angell was in China in 1881 and again for a few months in 1887. But
these were only interludes, for his influence during his long
Professorship, where he easily stood _primus inter pares_, must be the
gauge of the high favor in which he was held by students and Faculty
alike. Among the many facets of his genius was a remarkable ability as a
musician, and the impetus he gave the musical life of Ann Arbor resulted
in the organization of the Musical Society and the naming of the Frieze
Memorial Organ in his honor. Andrew D. White tells us, in his
"Autobiography," that he found him one of the most charming men he had
ever met,--simple, modest, retiring to a fault, yet a delightful
companion and a most inspiring teacher. "So passionately was he devoted
to music that at times he sent his piano away from his house in order to
shun temptation to abridge his professorial work, and especially was
this the case when he was preparing his edition of Virgil. A more lovely
spirit never abode in mortal frame. No man was ever more generally
beloved in a community; none, more lamented at his death." Hardly less
important was the inspiration and support Dr. Frieze gave to the study
of art through his contributions to the University's art museum. This
dates particularly from a gift he made of books, engravings,
photographs, and copies of statues and paintings, purchased abroad in
1856 with the unexpended balance of his salary, amounting to $800. This
was the real beginning of the University's art collection.
The same day in June, 1854, that witnessed the appointment of Dr.
Frieze, saw the election of Dr. Franz F.E. Brünnow, a graduate of the
University of Berlin, as Professor of Astronomy and Director of the new
Observatory. He too was destined to have a profound influence upon the
future of the University though his years in Ann Arbor were
comparatively few. Dr. Brünnow had already gained a European reputation
as a scientist before he decided to come to America, which he did
largely upon Humboldt's advice, and because of his desire to use the
astronomical clock and meridian circle which were made in Berlin under
his direction for the new observatory in Ann Arbor. The long list of
distinguished astronomers who have been students at Michigan may be said
to trace their academic lineage back to his acceptance of this position.
His successor, James C. Watson, was his pupil and Professor C.K. Adams
in his memorial address on Professor Watson said: "During the senior
year the Professor of Astronomy lectured to Watson alone. And I remember
years afterwards hearing Professor White say to one of his historical
classes that the best audience any professor ever had in this University
was the audience of Dr. Brünnow when he was lecturing to this single
pupil." Dr. White dwells with particular appreciation on the little
musical circle formed by Dr. Frieze, Mrs. White, and Dr. Brünnow, which
may well have been the original impulse for the future development of
musical interests in the University and the community. Dr. Brünnow's
quiet simplicity, which led those "who knew him best to love him, most,"
sometimes led to humorous situations, as on the occasion when President
Tappan requested Dr. Brünnow to find some one to take his place at
morning prayer the next day. This commission was performed with Teutonic
literalness, for each of the professors interviewed was greeted abruptly
with the somewhat startling question, "Professor, can you _bray_?" He
returned to Europe at the same time Dr. Tappan left the University, but
his influence remained in the work of his students and the scholarly
traditions he established.
Andrew D. White, Yale, '53, came as Professor of History and English
Literature in 1857. His influence was only less vital than that of Dr.
Tappan and Dr. Frieze because his active service with the University was
to last but six years. He was a very young professor, indeed--only
twenty-four--but he had had the best of training in France and Germany
and was inspired by a vision of a chair of history alone, unencumbered
by any allied, or supposedly allied, subjects; something apparently
unknown elsewhere, certainly at Yale, his Alma Mater.
He tells with relish in his "Autobiography" of the attentions paid him
by the students. As soon as they caught sight of him at the station they
asked him if he were going to enter the University. Of course he was.
They immediately proceeded to "rush" him, not discovering that he was
the new Professor of History until he signed the hotel register. His
students were often older than he was and his experiences were many,
particularly when he had it out with one student whom he had sized up as
a ring-leader in class disturbances. This man was always elaborately
innocent when trouble was brewing, but the young professor was sure he
was right in his suspicions as to the seat of the trouble. Finally he
delivered an ultimatum: "I see either you or I must leave the
University." The student pleaded not guilty but Professor White
insisted, suggesting that the Regents might feel the same as he in the
matter. After some diplomatic passages, in which the student seemed not
unimpressed by the importance given him, he acknowledged that perhaps he
had been a little foolish and suggested that they try to live together a
little longer. He afterwards became a strong friend of the young teacher
and later fell at the head of his brigade at Gettysburg.
The success with which Professor White and his contemporaries labored
among their students is shown by his later statement that from among
them came senators, congressmen, judges, professors, lawyers, heads of
great business enterprises, and diplomats. One became his successor in
the Professorship of History and later in the Presidency of Cornell, and
a well-known American historian of his time. Another became his
predecessor in the Embassy to Germany. Professor White left Ann Arbor in
1863, partly because of business interests, partly because of his
election to the New York State Senate and the Presidency of Cornell
University.
With these men as leaders Michigan boldly embarked on a series of
departures from educational precedents. Though the time was not ripe for
graduate study, its desirability had been recognized emphatically in the
annual catalogues. In their class rooms several of the Faculty
endeavored to do more than follow the accepted textbooks, through
lectures, assigned readings, and exercises designed to develop the
individual powers of each student. Professor White was particularly
fertile in these expedients. The claims of comparatively new subjects,
foreign to the traditional curriculum, were recognized in chairs of
history, English literature, the modern languages, and above all the
sciences, where true laboratory work was gradually introduced until
Michigan had under Professor Douglas what was probably in its early
years the largest chemical laboratory in any American university. The
new scientific course, which was established within the Literary
Department and not as a separate school, was particularly significant of
the progressive spirit of this early Faculty. This came to be so well
recognized that Dr. Angell remarked in his inaugural address that the
drift of intelligent opinion had been for twenty years towards some of
the positions early adopted by the University, such as elective studies
and larger opportunities for the study of history, modern languages, and
the natural sciences. He also took occasion to suggest that the
University would always have to be in a measure dependent upon the
alumni, since the Legislature would never become so generous in its
appropriations as to make private gifts undesirable or unnecessary.
While the liberal policy which laid the foundation for this expansion of
the University's field may properly be said to have been formed during
President Tappan's administration, it was continued and wisely expanded
under his successors. President Haven's first years were difficult, but
he had the support of his colleagues and was fortunate in the
appointment of the new members of the Faculty necessitated by the
reorganization which ushered in his administration. One of the first of
his appointments was that of Dr. Brünnow's favorite pupil, James C.
Watson, '57, to succeed him as Professor of Astronomy and Director of
the Observatory. Professor Watson's brilliant work had already
attracted wide attention, he "was bagging asteroids as though he lured
them with a decoy" though he was at that time still a very young man,
and his methods as a teacher somewhat peculiar. He paid scant attention
to those not vitally interested in his subject, and, as one chronicler
observed, showed the folly of a set course of studies and contributed in
this way not a little to the eventual adoption of the elective system in
the University. His lectures were sometimes brilliant and always lucid,
though he was not exacting in recitations or in examinations. The story
is told of his passing one student in an examination who had died
earlier in the year; he had merely taken the name from the roll prepared
the first day of the semester. Whatever were Professor Watson's personal
qualifications, however, the long list of eminent astronomers who were
his pupils during the years from 1863 to 1879 are ample evidence of his
genius, for they include such names as those of his successor Professor
Harrington, '68, Otto J. Klotz, '72_e_, of the Observatory of the
Dominion of Canada, Monroe B. Snyder, '72, Director of the Philadelphia
Observatory, Robert Simpson Woodward, '72_e_, President of the Carnegie
Institution, John M. Schaeberle, '76_e_, Astronomer in the Lick
Observatory from 1888 to 1897, and George Cary Comstock, '77, Director
of the Observatory of the University of Wisconsin.
Edward Olney, whose spirit still lives in the memory of older graduates,
also came at this time. He was, unlike most other members of the
Faculty, for the most part a self-made scholar of whose ability as a
teacher one former student rather ruefully remarked that the "students
knew something about mathematics when they got through with him." He was
always a prominent figure in the shaping of University policies and to
him no small measure of credit is given for the diploma system of
admission from the high schools in '71 and the elective system of '78.
The year 1867 brought the appointment to professorships of two men,
already mentioned, whose reputation eventually became nationwide. The
first was Charles Kendall Adams, who afterward became President of
Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin. He was graduated
from the University with the class of '61, and after some years as
instructor and Assistant Professor followed Andrew D. White in the chair
of history. The other was Moses Coit Tyler, Yale, '57, Professor of
Rhetoric and English Literature, whose "History of American Literature,"
published before he left Michigan in 1881, to go to Cornell, as well as
many later works, gave him an established place as an authority in this
field.
Professor Boise resigned the chair of Greek in 1868 to accept a similar
place at the University of Chicago. It is said that his reason for the
change was, in part at least, his desire to give his daughter, Alice
Boise, an opportunity to matriculate in an institution where women were
enrolled. While living in Ann Arbor she had already attended
unofficially at least two classes, and was probably the first woman to
recite in the University. Professor Boise was succeeded by Professor
Martin L. D'Ooge, '62, whose fine enthusiasm for the best in classical
culture and his genius for friendship were long with the University. For
several years before his death in 1915, Professor D'Ooge was, with Dr.
Angell, one of the few links which tied the present Faculty to the era
of those earlier leaders.
But the names of all the hundreds of members of the Faculties, who came
in ever-increasing numbers after this period, cannot all be mentioned,
though many have played important rôles in the growth and development of
the University. No record of the Faculty, however, can be left without
mention of the Rev. Benjamin F. Cocker, M.A., Wesleyan, '64, who
succeeded Dr. Haven in the chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy in 1869,
a strong and vital figure, of English birth but a citizen of the world,
who at one time nearly lost his life at the hands of cannibals in the
South Seas. He and his family arrived in America penniless, but his
ability as a thinker and preacher soon made him a place and eventually a
professorship in the University, where he was long remembered. He was
succeeded by Professor George S. Morris, Dartmouth, '61, who had come to
the University in 1870 as Professor of Modern Languages, a man of
totally different caliber, not so rugged and picturesque but more
sensitive and profound, the first real scholar in the modern sense in
the Department of Philosophy. Upon his death in 1889 he was succeeded by
the eminent philosopher John Dewey, Vermont, '79, who was followed in
turn in 1896 by Robert Mark Wenley, who came to Michigan bearing the
highest honors of the University of Glasgow. Within the Department of
Philosophy has also developed the special chair of Psychology, held by
Professor Walter B. Pillsbury, Nebraska, '92, who came to the University
in 1897 as instructor in the subject. Of these men it may be said that
they have all contributed their share to the singularly high place the
study of philosophy and metaphysics has continued to hold, even in this
utilitarian age, among the students of the University.
Elisha Jones, '59, who became Assistant Professor of Latin in 1875 and
Associate Professor in 1881, was also a teacher to whose memory long
generations of students pay tribute, not only for their introduction to
Latin through his textbooks, but for his fine simplicity and enthusiasm
for his work. At his death in 1888 his widow established a fellowship
which for many years aided many embryo classical scholars. Professor
Frieze, the head of the department, outlived him and was succeeded by
Francis W. Kelsey, Rochester, '80, whose labors in behalf of the
classics, and as president of the American School of Classical Studies
at Rome, and the Archeological Institute of America, have been widely
recognized. Associated for long years with Professor D'Ooge in the
Department of Greek was Albert H. Pattengill, '68, who died in 1906. He
was another extraordinary teacher, whose strong personality will long be
remembered, while his love of outdoor sports will be honored by
generations of athletes whose interests he served unselfishly throughout
his lifetime.
The resignation of Charles Kendall Adams brought another loved
personality to the University, Richard Hudson, '71, whose gentle
peculiarities only endeared him to his students. He succeeded Professor
D'Ooge as Dean of the Literary College in 1898. He was a most
conscientious teacher who believed in the meticulous presentation of
facts in his lectures, though one student at least found that after a
long series of lectures about the "low countries," "Flanders," and the
"Spanish cities," something else was needed, when confronted by an
examination on the _history of Belgium_. His method of teaching was his
own but effective, though many alumni will appreciate his remark to a
young instructor, as he poised his right forefinger in midair and
cleared his throat, "I wonder if you have any mannerisms that would make
you conspicuous before a class?" Professor Hudson not only gave his
library to the University but also left a legacy of $75,000 for the
establishment of a Professorship in History. Another popular figure of a
generation not too long ago was Andrew C. McLaughlin, '82, the
son-in-law of Dr. Angell, now Professor of History at the University of
Chicago. Upon the retirement of Professor Hudson in 1911, Claude H. Van
Tyne, '96, Professor of American History since 1906, became head of the
Department.
In the Department of English and Rhetoric Professor Tyler was succeeded
in 1881 by Isaac N. Demmon, '68, who had been Assistant Professor of
Rhetoric and History since 1876. Professor Demmon's service in the
University, which did not end until his retirement as Emeritus
Professor, and his death, in 1920, was long and self-sacrificing. He
left a monument to his interest in the Library in several special
collections, particularly in the Dramatic and Shakespearian libraries,
while his knowledge of the University's history and his remarkable
acquaintance among the alumni have been invaluable in the editing of
various editions of the Alumni Catalogue, and the revision and extension
of Professor Hinsdale's "History." In 1903 Fred N. Scott, '84, became
head of the newly created Department of Rhetoric. As occupant of this
chair Professor Scott, in addition to his scholarly work, evinced by
many books and articles, has been an inspiration, guide, and father
confessor to hundreds of students and alumni whose interest lay in
literature and authorship.
In modern languages, the task dropped by Professor Fasquelle at his
death in 1862 was continued by Edward Payson Evans, '54, until 1870 and
then by George S. Morris until his acceptance of the Professorship of
Philosophy in 1879. Edwin Lorraine Walter, '68, was then elected to the
chair. In 1887 the Department was divided and Calvin Thomas, '74, became
Professor of Germanic Languages and Literature, to be succeeded, after
his call to Columbia University in 1896, by George A. Hench, Lafayette,
'85, who lost his life three years later in an accident in the White
Mountains. Max Winkler, Harvard, '89, the present occupant of the chair,
eventually succeeded him. After Professor Walter lost his life on the
Bourgogne in 1898, the chair of French was filled by Arthur G. Canfield,
Williams, '78.
When the new chair in the Science and Art of Teaching was first
established in 1879, William H. Payne was appointed as the first
Professor. He was an experienced teacher in the secondary schools of the
State and contributed much to the eventual success of the new
department. After he resigned in 1887 to become Chancellor of the
University of Nashville, Burke Aaron Hinsdale, a graduate and for some
time President of Hiram College, Ohio, and an intimate associate of
President Garfield, was elected to succeed him. Under Professor
Hinsdale's strong and vigorous guidance, the department rapidly advanced
to a recognized place in the curriculum. Though his bearing was somewhat
austere and overwhelming, he could unbend, as was proved on one occasion
in the Library when his booming voice brought an admonition from an
official. Just then an influential member of the Library Committee
chanced to appear. He proved a greater disturber of the peace than
Professor Hinsdale, who, nudging his companion, slyly inquired, with the
suspicion of a grin, "Why don't you tell _him_ to keep quiet?" Professor
Hinsdale was distinguished by his prolific and scholarly writings and
left a monument in his "History of the University," which will long be
recognized as the standard for the period up to 1900. His death
occurred in that year, and the chair thus left vacant was occupied by
Allen S. Whitney, '85, whose title was changed in 1905 to Professor of
Education.
After the resignation of Professor Watson in 1879, the chair of
Astronomy was occupied by Mark Walrod Harrington, '68, until 1892; later
he became President of the University of Washington. He was succeeded by
William J. Hussey, '89. Since the death of Professor Olney in 1887, the
Department of Mathematics has been under the charge of Wooster W. Beman,
'70, a member of the Faculty since 1871, whose name now stands first as
to length of service on the academic roster.
Albert Benjamin Prescott, '64_m_, who eventually succeeded Dr. Silas H.
Douglas as Director of the Chemical Laboratory, became Assistant
Professor of Chemistry in 1865. He organized the course in Pharmacy
three years later, becoming Professor of Organic and Applied Chemistry
and of Pharmacy in 1870. In 1876 he became Dean of the new College of
Pharmacy and in 1884 Director of the Chemical Laboratory. Upon his death
in 1905 he was succeeded as Director of the Chemical Laboratory by
Edward DeMille Campbell, '86, who had been Professor of Chemical
Engineering and Analytical Chemistry since 1902. After the retirement of
Professor Williams in 1877, Charles K. Wead, Vermont, '71, became Acting
Professor of Physics, to be succeeded in 1885 by Henry Smith Carhart,
Wesleyan, '69, who held the chair of Physics and the Directorship of the
Physical Laboratory until his retirement in 1905. His successor was John
Oren Reed, '85, who became also Dean of the Literary Department in 1907.
Upon Dean Reed's death in 1916 the Professorship of Physics passed to
Harrison McAllister Randall, '93, who became Director of the Physical
Laboratory in 1918.
[Illustration: THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY
The original building at the right]
[Illustration: HILL AUDITORIUM]
[Illustration: THE CHEMISTRY BUILDING]
[Illustration: THE NATURAL SCIENCE BUILDING]
At the end of Professor Winchell's first period in the University in
'73, the several subjects which comprised his professorship were
divided. The chair of Botany passed to Eugene Woldemar Hilgard, Ph.D.,
Heidelberg, '53, who was succeeded two years later by Volney Morgan
Spalding, '73, as Instructor in Botany and Zoölogy, becoming Professor
of Botany in 1886. Upon his resignation in 1904 the chair was occupied
by Frederick Charles Newcombe, '90. The work in Zoölogy passed to Joseph
Beal Steere, '68, who became an Assistant Professor in 1876, after five
years of travel in the interests of the University in South America,
China, and the East Indies, where he collected some 20,000 specimens for
the Museum. He became Professor of Zoölogy in 1879, and retained the
chair until 1894, when he was succeeded by Jacob E. Reighard, '82.
William Henry Pettee, Harvard, '61, assumed the work in mineralogy in
1875 under the title of Professor of Mining Engineering. In addition to
his work in his own subject, he served from 1881 to 1904 as editor of
the University Calendar and advisory editor of other University
publications. Edward Henry Kraus, Syracuse, '96, who occupies the chair
of Mineralogy at present, first came to the University in 1904 and
succeeded to the chair in 1908. When Professor Winchell returned to the
University after his term as Chancellor of the University of Syracuse,
he became Professor of Geology and held that position until his death in
1891, when he was succeeded by Israel Cook Russell, New York University,
'69. Upon Professor Russell's death in 1906, William Herbert Hobbs,
Worcester Polytechnic, '83, was called to the chair from the University
of Wisconsin.
Though courses in economics were given in the University almost from the
first and; in fact, with International Law, formed the special field of
work assumed by Dr. Angell for some years, the Department of Political
Economy as such was not organized until after Henry C. Adams, Iowa
College, '74, who came to the University as a lecturer in 1881, accepted
the chair of Political Economy in 1887. The first step toward a chair in
Sociology came with the appointment in 1899 of Charles Horton Cooley,
'87, a son of Judge Thomas M. Cooley, of the first Law Faculty, as
Assistant Professor of Sociology, from which position he rose to a full
professorship in eight years. A separate chair of Political Science was
not created until 1910, when Jesse Siddall Reeves, Amherst, '91, came as
the head of the new department. The Department of Music had its first
beginning with the appointment of Calvin Brainerd Cady, Oberlin, '74, as
instructor in 1880. He became Acting Professor of Music in 1885, but
resigned three years later when Albert A. Stanley, Leipzig, '75, came as
the head of the Department and a few years later Director of the
University School of Music, now closely associated with the work of the
University though not in any way a part of it. After the disappearance
from the Faculty roll of the name of the Detroit portrait painter, Alvah
Bradish, who apparently gave a few lectures on Fine Arts during the
period from 1852 to 1863, no work in fine arts was given until the
appointment of Professor Herbert R. Cross, Brown, '00, in 1911. The work
in elocution and oratory was definitely established with the appointment
in 1889 of Thomas C. Trueblood, M.A., Earlham, '85, who had for some
years held a lectureship in the University, as Assistant Professor of
Elocution and in 1892 as full Professor of Oratory.
The chair of Semitics and Oriental Languages, held since 1914 by Leroy
Waterman, Hillsdale, '98, was first established in 1893 when James A.
Craig, McGill, '80, came as Professor of Oriental Languages, a title
which was changed to Semitic Languages and Literatures and Hellenistic
Greek the following year.
Following the example of Yale and Cornell, Michigan established a
Department of Forestry in 1903, and called Filibert Roth, '90, to fill
the chair thus created. For some time courses in forestry had been given
in connection with the work in botany, but the growing interest in the
preservation and conservation of America's timber resources made more
intensive and systematic training seem desirable. A few years later, in
1909, a course in landscape design was established, which shortly became
a department under the charge of Professor Aubrey Tealdi, a graduate of
the Royal Technical Institute of Livorno, Italy.
The history of the development of special courses and degrees in the
University, though interesting and suggestive, can only be given here in
a brief outline. As Dr. Angell remarked in one of his reports, the
governing board has been distinguished for the boldness and originality
of its policy, making frequent changes in traditional college usages,
some of which were freely criticized at the time by those who afterwards
approved and even adopted them. We have seen how the University departed
from the dead level of contemporary college practice in establishing
Scientific Courses, and the admitting of those who were not seeking a
degree as special students. A few years later, in 1855, came the first
indication of one of the principal differences between the old
University and that of the present time--the system of elective studies.
The concession was a very small one, it must be acknowledged, one-third
of the work in the senior year; but it was a break in the dike. This was
all that was allowed for fifteen years, or until 1871, when all the
studies of the senior year except philosophy became elective.
The establishment of an English course in 1877-78, leading to the degree
of Bachelor of Letters, which consisted largely in the study of modern
languages and history, and aimed to co-ordinate with similar high school
courses, formed another break, which was emphasized by a modification
and revision of the other courses and a change from the Latin and
Scientific to the Latin course. Almost half the work required for a
degree now became elective. This action was far-reaching in its effect;
not only was there an immediate increase of almost twenty percent in the
number of students, but due to it, curiously enough, can be traced the
subsequent rise of a true graduate school. The principle of general
election of studies was gradually extended until the required work was
decreased to certain introductory courses in Latin, Greek, modern
languages, rhetoric, history, mathematics, and sciences, according to
the special fields chosen by the student. The special degrees of B.S.,
Ph.B., and B.L. were abolished in 1900 and all graduates of the Literary
Department were granted a degree of A.B. after that time, though the
B.S. was later restored. Of late there has been a reaction toward more
formal programs of study, with an increased emphasis on certain
introductory work which must be observed in planning the course
necessary for a degree. But the great latitude left to the student in
the choice of his work still remains.
The growth of the Graduate School should also be noted, for upon this
the standing of the University as a center of learning must eventually
rest. In spite of Dr. Tappan's efforts to introduce "university"
courses, Michigan was long a college rather than a university, so much
so that President Haven discouraged the use of the word "undergraduate"
when "graduate" students were almost non-existent; while the
opportunities offered them, except possibly in astronomy and chemistry,
where the facilities were unusual for that period, were only those of a
high grade college curriculum. But the leaven was working, in two
particulars especially; the seminar method of teaching and the
development of the elective system. The first seminar was held by
Professor Charles Kendall Adams in 1871 in some of his courses in
history. He was followed a little later by Professor Moses Coit Tyler in
English Literature, and in time by most of the other departments. This,
with the corresponding laboratory methods in the teaching of the
sciences, had a profound influence on the growth of scholarly ideals in
the University. Michigan was in all probability the first American
institution to naturalize these products of Continental universities.
The broadening of the course in 1877-78, with its great increase in
electives, enabled the members of the Faculty to increase the scope of
their work and to expand their courses. As an immediate answer there
came an ever increasing demand for true graduate work, not only from
graduates of the University, but from those of other institutions as
well. This movement grew so rapidly that the number of advanced students
enrolled increased from four in 1870 to 56 in 1892, when a Graduate
School was formally organized in connection with the Literary
Department. This was expanded some twenty-five years later into an
entirely separate Department, or School, following the revised
nomenclature of 1910, of which Professor Karl Eugen Guthe, Marburg,
Ph.D., '89, of the Department of Physics, became the first Dean. Upon
his death in the summer of 1915 he was succeeded by Professor Alfred H.
Lloyd, Harvard, '86, of the Department of Philosophy.
Thus graduate work in the University came into its own. At last the
ideals of President Tappan, who admitted the first graduate student in
1856, were in some measure at least realized; though the real results of
his labors did not show for many years after he left.
Throughout all the early period the general attitude towards advanced
work was decidedly haphazard and casual; the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy was not given until 1876, when Dr. Victor C. Vaughan, the
present Dean of the Medical School, was one of the first recipients;
while the Ph.D. as well as the M.D. were sometimes given as honorary
degrees. This attitude toward graduate study, however, was by no means
confined to Michigan, for the systematic regulation of advanced courses
has been comparatively a recent development in all American
universities.
The first organization of the School under a Graduate Council within the
Literary Department, was therefore a great step in advance, however
anomalous its position,--a graduate school practically controlled by an
undergraduate faculty,--though there were, it is true, certain
representatives of the professional departments on the Council.
Nevertheless the work grew rapidly after this time. Not only was there a
steadily increasing enrolment, but there was a distinct increase in the
number of advanced courses, as well as in the time given by teachers to
graduate instruction and to research work, which greatly strengthened
the prestige of the University as a center of higher education.
The final establishment of the School as a separate division of the
University naturally gave a decided impetus to this development. A
suite of offices was set apart for the administrative force; special
encouragement was given to the publication of the results of their work
by members of the Faculty, particularly through such agencies as the
University Humanistic Series, and similar series in other fields, while
fifteen University fellowships were also established, as well as the
State College Fellowships mentioned above. In addition a number of
fellowships have been privately established by individuals and
corporations, ranging from the classics to paper-making. During the last
few years there have been in all between thirty-five and forty-five
fellowships ordinarily available. The enrolment in the School reached
570 in 1916. There was naturally a falling off during the war, though by
the year 1919-20 the enrolment had once more reached 509. Of this number
227 were registered in the summer session, 173 were women and 195 were
graduates of other institutions than Michigan.
The history of the University Library has been closely associated, as is
only natural, with the growth of the Literary College, and it is proper
to include a word about the Library in this place. The appointment of
the first Librarian in 1837 did not make a library, and for many years
the fine but small collection of books gathered in Europe by Professor
Gray was housed in different places about the Campus and was used only
as a circulating library--open for one hour each week for the use of the
professors and students. However a note in the library regulations to
the effect that: "The present instructors are of opinion that there are
very few of the books in the library which would be useful to students,"
seems to limit even this function of the little collection. All this was
changed in 1856 when the whole North Wing was set apart as a Museum and
Library. Here for the first time, the books were properly shelved and
arrangements made for their daily use in an adequate reading-room under
the charge of Dr. Tappan's son, John L. Tappan, who took charge as the
first real Librarian. He arranged the books scientifically and began the
first card catalogue.
Almost at once the Library sprang into a new place in University life.
Not only did President Tappan make the Library one of his first
interests, but the Regents came to realize the desirability of regular
support. This inaugurated a period of ever-increasing growth, which has
placed the Library well to the front among American college libraries.
Progress at first was rather slow, only about 800 volumes were added
each year up to 1877, when the Librarian reported that there were almost
24,000 volumes in the collection. Not very large even then; but the rate
increased from that time, rapidly, and at the present time the Library
numbers some 430,000 volumes including the departmental collections.
In 1877 the Legislature was brought to see the imperative need of an
adequate library and made a special appropriation of $5,000, which was
renewed every two years, and even gradually increased, until in 1891 the
amount appropriated was $15,000, with a grand total over a period of
fifteen years of $79,000. These biennial appropriations ended in 1893
with the increase of the mill-tax from one-twentieth to one-sixth of a
mill. This enabled the Regents to double the income of the Library,
making it $15,000 annually. The income increased gradually until the
library budget of 1920 was over $150,000, of which $50,000 represents
the approximate cost of books; the balance being spent for the salaries
of the large staff which is necessitated by a library of this size.
[Illustration: THE NEW LIBRARY]
Upon the completion of the first Law Building in 1863 the Library was
given new and better quarters where it remained until the old Library
was completed in 1883. This was at the time considered the last word in
a college library and was dedicated with special exercises at which an
address was given by Dr. Justin Winsor, Librarian of Harvard University.
For thirty-five years this building, situated at the center of the
Campus, with its picturesque twin towers rising above the ivy-covered
apse, served the University well. Here was not only the center of
academic life, but from one of the towers the Campus clock chimed the
hours and quarters for the convenience of the students. In the end,
however, the old building proved inadequate and unsafe for the valuable
collections it housed, in spite of an increase in stack capacity in
1899. The building was therefore finally removed to make way for the new
Library, completed in 1919, which, through its perfect adaptation to the
purposes for which it is designed, is considered the most conveniently
appointed and successful college library in the country. The building
will accommodate over one million volumes and there are definite plans
for future extension which will house over three-quarters of a million
in addition. The stack wing of the old Library was incorporated in the
building, permitting the gradual erection of the new structure in such a
manner that the use of the books was not interfered with at any time.
The new Library was formally opened on January 7, 1920, with an address
by Mr. R.R. Bowker, the editor of _The Library Journal_, as the
principal feature of the programme. The building cost, completed and
furnished, $615,000, of which amount the sum of $550,000 was especially
appropriated by the State Legislature.
After the resignation of the first Librarian, the Rev. Henry Colclazer,
in 1845, the charge of the Library was passed around from one member of
the Faculty to another until the appointment of John L. Tappan in 1856,
nominally the eighth, though in reality the first Librarian. He was
followed by Datus Chase Brooks, who held the position one year, when the
Rev. Andrew Ten Brook, who had once before held the title during the
year 1850-51, returned to the University as Librarian in 1864. Not only
were the affairs of the Library well cared for during his
administration, but he also found time to write his "History of State
Universities," which gives the only adequate picture we have of the
beginnings of the University, by one who shared their trials and
triumphs. Upon his resignation in 1877 Raymond Cazallis Davis, '55-'57,
A.M. (hon.) '81, succeeded him, contributing greatly during the
twenty-eight years of his administration towards the establishment of
the Library on its present effective basis. In this effort he was
supported by the advice and co-operation of Professor Isaac N. Demmon,
who was for thirty-seven years a member of the Library Committee.
Theodore Wesley Koch, Harvard, '93, became Librarian in 1905, coming
from the Library of Congress in Washington. It was his main effort to
popularize the use of the Library among the students and Faculties,
through making the reading-rooms more attractive and the books more
accessible. The Library of Congress was again called upon for his
successor after he resigned in 1915, when the present Librarian, William
Warner Bishop, '92, came in time to give his experience and
administrative ability to the planning and construction of the new
Library Building. To him in no small measure is due its acknowledged
success as a working library which has won the praise of all practical
librarians throughout the country.