New York University School of Commerce - Commerce Violet Yearbook (New York, NY)

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A specific example is the adaptation of the principles of art to display advertising. Professor Sprague was one of the first consciously to develop an art of layout from the principles of composition that have been garnered from the painters, architects, and sculptors whose works have become classic. Also he has pioneered in developing courses in layfout founded upon an intimate knowledge of the best art. Not only has this work been of value to practitioners, both layfout men and art directors, but Pro' fessor Sprague has been able to present it to his students so that they have caught the inspiration of art as well as acquired the technique of the worker. Professor Sprague's home is in Port Washiiigton, where with Mrs. Sprague he is bringing up two sons, Andrew and David, six and two respectively. It is too early to predict the future for youngsters of their ages, but from their ability to use scissors on their father's books and a paste pot on their mother's damask table linen, it looks as if they might have a bright and shining future either as artists or editors. The adaptation and utilization of the best that comes within one's purview is said to be essential to each of these avocations. ,The popularity of the man whom the Violet Board is honoring by this dedication is further attested by the recent vote of Commerce students for the most popular instructor. Professor Sprague was the only member of the faculty having attained full rank who received even as much as a nomination. 6

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With the usual adaptability of the Yankee boy, Professor Sprague became suc- cessively, art director in an advertising agency, conductor of a studio, a teacher in the High School of Commerce of New York, and instructor in New York University. To add further variety he took an occasional trip abroad, the first time acting as one of the grooms for a ship-load of cows. One year was spent on the Pacific coast, which brought the usual enthusiasm for the West's limpid atmosphere, blue skies, and the well-known 'Lgreat open spaces. An influential part of his philosophy of life came from two garbled bon mots of wisdom: An honest man gathers no moss, and a rolling stone is the noblest work of God. In the winter of 1921 Professor Sprague returned to New York University as a regular member of the statutory faculty. In addition to giving his courses on art at the University, he has delivered extramural lectures on art, on home decoration, and on antiques. He is frequently consulted on these subjects by such an institution as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In his study of art, Professor Sprague has been abroad four times, the last trip being in 1924. He has studied in the principal art centers of France and Italy, and pondered the most typical architectural structures of Westerii Europe. The man who formulates a theory or discovers an abstruse principle but presents it in a form so involved that only the learned few can comprehend may perform a great service for humanity, but the one who is able to understand enigmatieal and inscrutable propositions and to translate them into workable formulae may perform an even greater public service than the discoverer. In fact, stepping down the erudition of thinkers to the understanding of the public makes up a large part of university instruction. Professor Sprague's most notable achievements have been of this nature. His strength lies in his ability to grasp fundamentals which have been laboriously wrought out but mystically and incomprehensively stated, and translate them into everyfday workable form. 7

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.if i 2 , , g SN ' l ear, e st r ay 'Ul'.l' X X K lf . S Cf ,4 f l 0 . 1, la ill, s 'l .rl f Efg lfsqgg, '. qwhgkgi k. fa f. 1 ' l '- ' 'il lJglule55Gr1f0TClSChe1'e1' E college year 1926-1927 was one of the most active and changes and events took place that it is diflicult to pick the one, which ten, twenty or thirty years from now, will be the most ' s 4 . V' e outstanding to the students of today. To the School of Commerce I , . u,a,,-.X S1523 N. successful in the history of the School of Commerce. So many 1 ' . 14 . 1 '- , 2 at x itself, the new building is perhaps the most vital of all. Twentyfseven years ago a request was made of the University by the Society of Certified Public Accountants of New York for the establishment of a school that would prepare students to take the C.P.A. examinations. So in 1900 a new school was established, the School of Commerce, Accounts, and Finance. It is hard to realize today that in 1900 the School of Commerce had only 67 students and a few rooms in the Washington Square building. The first course offered in the new school was one covering but two years of Commerce work, and this was given only in the evening. But with this humble beginning, the school had grown to be the largest in the university and in 1926 a building of its own was found to be necessary. The university, therefore, purchased the eleven story building at Fourth and Wooster streets late in the spring of 1926. During the summer vacation the building was completely remodeled, so that when the students arrived at school last September they found awaiting them the finest of the University buildings at Washington Square- the New Commerce Building. The building was complete with study halls, lockers, accounting laboratories, smoking rooms, rest rooms, commerce practice rooms, faculty rooms and a wonderful library. It is worthy of note that the new building, dedicated to the teaching of business principles, lies in the heart of the world's greatest business district. 9